by degrees over the whole face of the earth, and all nations were to be gathered into its fold. The Church foretold by our Lord was to be a Catholic or universal Church. Now this one, united, and Catholic Church which, according to His good pleasure, our Lord founded, can only be the Roman Catholic Church, in which the faithful of the five parts of the world are joined together in real unity of faith and government under one Chief Shepherd, the Pope.
The Love of Jesus for sinners. The touching parable of the lost sheep shows our Lord’s compassionate love for individual sinners. The lost sheep signifies a sinner who, obeying his own evil inclinations and the allurements of sin, has separated himself from Jesus, and is shut out from the number of the faithful. But the Saviour does not withdraw His love from this wanderer. Even as, during His sojourn on earth, He laboured for the conversion of sinners, so does He now go after the sinner. He calls him by His grace, by His priests, and invites him to return once more to the fold, by means of the Sacrament of Penance. And when He has found him, He supports him on the difficult road of penance, and receives him back with joy. Jesus does this not for His own sake, since He does not require this straying sinner: He seeks him out of pure love and compassion for the poor sinner himself, wandering about and in momentary danger of falling into the abyss of hell. And it was because the Good Shepherd and His ‘Triends” were so anxious about the salvation of that sheep which was in danger, that their joy at his return and salvation is greater, and shows itself more outwardly, than their calm joy about the faithful who are walking without wavering on the path of salvation.
Grace. We learn from this parable the important doctrine that it is God who gives the first impulse to the conversion or justification of a sinner, moving him to be converted by His preventing grace (conveyed either by inward inspirations, or by the warning words of parents or pastors, or else by misfortune, sickness &c.), and who then supports him by His grace on the road of penance, until he is once more restored to a state of justification in the holy Sacrament of Penance.
The Communion of Saints. If the blessed inhabitants of heaven rejoice over the conversion of sinners, they must have a knowledge of it. It follows, therefore, that the angels and Saints in heaven know about us, care for us, and pray for us.
Application. Does not the loving compassion of Jesus, the Good Shepherd of our souls, bind us to love Him with all our hearts, and above all things? How have you loved Him hitherto? He has given His life for you; He has called you into the fold of His one true Church without any merit on your part; He has fed you on the milk of His doctrine, and has showered
