Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Matthew 10:7
Who are the lost sheep? In today’s world, ask anyone and they will say its someone else. At least it seems that way. This has been a tough couple weeks in my home parish. I won’t go into specifics, but just do a Google search for ‘Catholic priest Carmel Indiana’ and you’ll get the gist.
My parish is polarized. There is literally a divide people thinking the other side is the lost sheep, who must be herded and corralled into their pens, seeking forgiveness. Everyone says “They are wrong. I am right. And this is how it should be… The Bishop should do this, otherwise he is weak and giving in to the other side.
Emotions are flying high. Loyalty runs deep. People are lashing out. Our parish is a house divided and well, you know what Jesus says about that…
Neither side is entirely right. And neither side is entirely wrong. Our parish is a chaotic mess right now, a storm, and the damage is running deep. We are all lost, and we want to blame. We want to be angry. We want to yell. We are all the lost sheep, whether we want to admit it or not. We are the people that Jesus sends out His disciples to find.
It is sickening. Friendships will be broken over this. Longtime friendships. Political issues overshadowing Faith. People will leave the Church over this. Not just our parish in search of a new one, but others will leave the Church overall.
It’s almost like we were living in a house of cards, on a foundation of sand.
It’s funny, I had a completely different reflection written last night. It was one about my wife and son, because today, July 8, 2020 – my wife and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary and we are celebrating my son’s 12th birthday. But I was having a difficult time tying it to the readings.
And so, I kept pondering. I kept thinking and this situation with my parish, the events of the last few stays are still so fresh and tender in my mind. My parish is a microcosm of the world today, at this very moment. We are all so lost.
We’ve let ideologies, the very notion of freedom, and simply other people become our idols we worship. And we’ve turned away from God. I think in some cases, even our religion has become an idol in our lives, and we worship the religion and not God. It’s crazy to think, but I’m seeing it somewhat.
And my heart aches for what I am seeing and hearing and experiencing. My heart aches for how I feel.
Seek always the face of the Lord, the Psalm instructs us today. We see the face of the Lord in all of those faces around us, not only in those we know, but those we don’t know. We see Him in who we live with, and yes, I’ve seen God’s face in the eyes of my wife and son countless times.
We see the face of the Lord in the people that we interact with, no matter how briefly. We see Him in those who listen to what we say, and in those who read the words we write.
But sometimes we fail to see Him in those around us, and we only see our personal ambitions, and it is in these times where we truly become lost and we lash out in fear.
To find Him, we need to look into the eyes of those people who come into our lives. We need to look into the eyes of those people we serve. We need to see things from different perspectives, and we need to swallow our pride and let our guard down, and let ourselves be found.
Look through all the pain and anger and sadness – and look for Him in the eyes of the people beside you, in front of you, and behind you. Look through all that emotion and speak to them, speak to those people, as you would speak to Christ.
We are all the lost sheep. We are all God’s children. If you are lost, Let yourself be found.
