>>>> Saint Ambrose – Pray for Us!
GOD, THE SHEPHERD
Introduction
The author of Second Isaiah has a beautiful message of joy and hope. God will end the exile of his people and bring them back to him. Their sins are forgiven. He will live among them as their shepherd.
God became visible as the shepherd of his people in Jesus Christ. To him, every person is precious, especially the little people and sinners. The pilgrim Church – her leaders, and all those belonging to the Church, are to be merciful and forgiving, responsible for one another, sinners responsible for their fellow sinners.
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God,
you are near to us
in Jesus Christ, your Son.
When we go astray,
you look for us until you find us.
Bring us back to you,
show us the way to you
through him who is our way,
Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen!
1 Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. A voice says, “Cry out!” I answer, “What shall I cry out?” “All flesh is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it. So then, the people is the grass. Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever.” Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.
Responsorial Psalm 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13
R. (cf. Isaiah 40:10ab) The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day. R.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity. R.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice. R.
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy. R.
Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia.
The day of the Lord is near;
Behold, he comes to save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14
Jesus said to his disciples: “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
Commentary
Do not be afraid to be consoled by God!
The heart of the shepherd that goes in search of the lost sheep and his joy in finding the lost one symbolises the mission and the Joy of the Church today. When the Church fails to go out in search of the lost ones and moreover, when it refuses to rejoice when a lost sheep is traced back, it fails the mission entrusted to her.
A well organised Church which is meticulous on its plans and projects but if it remains closed on people who broke away from it, Pope Francis calls it “a discouraged, anxious and sad Church; such a Church is no more than a museum.”
The end of the passage from Isaiah in the first reading today, we have the image of a shepherd who “will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young”. This is the joy of the Church: to comfort and console the distressed and the distant. Because the people are in need of comfort.
Unfortunately, people tend to run away from consolation. The Lord works very hard to console us, but encounters resistance. We bet on desolation, on problems, on defeat. This can be seen even with the disciples on the morning of Easter, who needed to be reassured, because they were afraid of another defeat.
Pope Francis described the human nature of running away from God’s comfort with the funny story of little children who scream and cry when they see the pope during general audience! The pope explains: “Children who approach me during my public audiences sometimes see me and scream, they begin to cry, because seeing someone in white, they think of the doctor and the nurse, who give them a shot for their vaccines; and they think, ‘No, no, not another one!’ And we are a little like that,” says the Pope! But the Lord says, “Comfort, comfort my people.”
The Lord consoles us like the shepherd who, goes in search of the lost sheep until he finds it. The Lord does just that with each one of us. He is at the door. He knocks so that we might open our heart in order to allow ourselves to be consoled, and to allow ourselves to be set at peace. And He does it with gentleness. He knocks with caresses. In these weeks leading up to Christmas, we should ask the Lord for the grace, not be afraid to allow ourselves to be consoled by Him.
Intercessions
– That the Church may be compassionate and patient with people who err, as God is compassionate to us, we pray:
– That we may bring joy and comfort to one another, as God has brought us joy and comfort in Christ, we pray:
– That we may not condemn people who commit mistakes or hurt us, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our God, merciful Father,
you are always near to us
through your Son, Jesus Christ.
In these signs of bread and wine,
we celebrate his living presence.
Through him, speak to our hearts,
reassure us that we are precious to you,
even though we are the sinners,
and begin with us your new era
of merciful love and joy.
Grant us this through Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord God, shepherd of people,
in this Eucharist, you have let us experience
that you want to be close to us
through our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Help us to be shepherds to one another,
sinners responsible for their fellow sinners,
taking one another as we are,
because you take us as we are,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
We thank God that he still cared for us when we sinned. With him, we care also for people who go astray. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!