Preparation for Total Consecration

WEEK 4:
KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD

The New Testament is largely the result of the impact made on the early Church by the risen Jesus; he is Lord. In that light they were 'christened' - baptised into his Church, and there contemplated and tried to live his teaching. We, like them, should want to enjoy a present relationship with our risen Lord as reflected in the Gospel.

Second Day: Lk. 15: 8, 9

EVERYONE IS FIRST

Parable.What woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently, until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying,. 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost'.

Reflection.In the parables, Jesus tries to show what God is like. So often he makes the point that the weak, the sinner, the lost, get preferential treatment. We are never written off as a nuisance or an embarrassment.

We tend to feel that if we are 'good boys and girls', God will give us the ice-cream. We tend to forget that when all we have to offer is our need, we can be most open to the love of God.

The detail of the parable may well recall something that happened in Jesus' house. He remembers perhaps his mother's joy in finding something she valued, and the trouble she took to find it. Once it is found, everyone knows. She is so happy and cannot keep it to herself. Happiness is contagious.

God and religion mean obligation and trouble for many of us. It is uphill all the time. We seem always to be coming from behind, never ever good enough. Unsurprisingly, many give up, tired of a struggle they can never win.

In the parable, Jesus is asking us to look at ourselves from the vantage point of the found coin. We may not even know that we are lost. We do not know just how much we are valued. But we are cherished by God in Christ. To find us and show this, 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory' (Jn. 1:14).

The simplicity of the parable should not lead us to think that it is simply a comparison. It tries to show a present lasting relationship. Life in Christ is like that. This is how God sees and cherishes us. Do we see ourselves in that light?

Prayer.Lord Jesus, you came to find and save the lost. Your life and teaching try in so many ways to show me that.

May your Mother, whose life you shared on earth and enjoy now in glory, help me see just how I am wanted and cherished by you.

Montfort.'How describe the gentleness of Jesus in his dealings with poor sinners ... whom he came upon earth to seek out in a visible manner, and whom he still seeks in an invisible manner every day' (LEW 125, 126).