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Gospel Reading for December 09, 2025 – Matthew 18: 12-14
ALL OF US COUNT
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.”
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Something very important for us to remember is that we are created beings, and much more than being created, we are created in God’s image and likeness. We are not just objects that may be discarded if we get lost. We are not just robots that may be reprogrammed if we fail to do what we are supposed to do.
Jesus uses the imagery of the Father being a Good Shepherd who will not stop looking for us when we go astray because ALL OF US COUNT in God’s Kingdom. No one is more important or less important. In God’s Kingdom, diplomas, properties, bank accounts do not count because these are all temporal matters. If indeed they count, it is how we used them to be of good service to humanity and to alleviate the lives of those who have less in life around us.
This is why parents, who are God’s instruments of love, play a very important role in ingraining in their children the foundational traits of morality, self-esteem, respect, resilience, compassion, independence and responsibility, teaching through example and consistent guidance so they become well-rounded, capable adults who will contribute positively to society in the future.
God does not give up on us even if we have given up on him. We are SO IMPORTANT to him that he will provide us with all the graces we need to get back on our feet and experience happiness and peace as he would want us to have.
Let us ponder on this hymn written by Bob Dufford, S.J. and based on Isaiah 43: 2-3 and Luke 6:20, BE NOT AFRAID –
You shall cross the barren desert,
but you shall not die of thirst.
You shall wander far in safety
though you do not know the way.
You shall speak your words in foreign lands
and all will understand.
You shall see the face of God and live.
BE NOT AFRAID,
I go before you always.
Come, follow me, and I will give you rest.
If you pass through raging waters in the sea,
you shall not drown.
If you walk amid the burning flames,
you shall not be harmed.
If you stand before the pow’r of hell
and death is at your side,
know that I am with you through it all.
BE NOT AFRAID,
I go before you always.
Come, follow me, and I will give you rest.
Blessed are your poor,
for the kingdom shall be theirs.
Blest are you that weep and mourn,
for one day you shall laugh.
And if wicked tongues insult and hate you
all because of me,
blessed, blessed are you!
BE NOT AFRAID,
I go before you always.
Come, follow me, and I will give you rest.
