Our Holy Father Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea (270-75)
1 Timothy 1:18-20; 2:8-15; Luke 15:1-10
Nativity Fast. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read Luke 15:1-10
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Every sheep counts! The lost sheep was not just some anonymous sheep, nameless and worthless. No, the shepherd knew that sheep even if that sheep did not that it was known. And the shepherd put all attention and energy into finding that sheep. Once found, there is joy; not just an internal joy but a joy that has welled-up and overflows, a contagious joy. It is a joy that MUST be shared!
Our Lord shared this parable with the Pharisees and scribes in order to provide an opportunity to them to realise that those with whom He eats, tax collectors and sinners, who in listening to Him decide to embrace repentance, are like this lost sheep. It becomes more evident in the next parable of the found coin, and the parable after that (not read in today’s Liturgy) of the compassionate father finding his lost prodigal son.
It becomes clear to us – repentance, that turning to the Lord, the shepherd, and turning away from sin and sinful situations, in our life is fundamental to being a disciple of the Lord. Let us embrace repentance anew today.