We Are The Lost Sheep

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."  (Mt 18, 12-14)

In this passage, Jesus seems to be more concerned with the children of God who are lost than with those who are righteous. Actually, it is just the opposite, because we all are lost sheep, inasmuch as we continually lose our way whenever we sin. Jesus implicitly says to us that in order to be saved we must always, in every moment of our lives, remain aware that Salvation – both our own and that of our brothers and sisters – must be invoked by remembering that it does not depend on us but above all on divine grace. This is clear to the saints. So let us pray more often like Saint Joan of Arc did: “If I am in the state of grace, I pray that God may keep me there, and if I am not, may God put me there.”