Yesterday we read in the gospel the well-known passage of the lost sheep. Maybe some of you will identify; I do very much.
I have been lost and the Good Shepherd has found me and carried me over His shoulders, bringing me back home not once but many times.
Here in Jacmel a beautiful beach site in Haiti, I encountered seven women shepherds, seven Missionaries of Charity who have left everything to go out and look for those lost sheep. And they found them.
But to be truthful they are not lost sheep they are just “sheep” hurt by life itself, by society: in a house for malnourished kids; a place for mentally disabled men and women.
Walking around the corridors, seeing so much pain and suffering, one might think it would be depressing or daunting. But I experienced the opposite: joy and acceptance, freedom and peace.
Why? Because they have the best shepherds of all, women of prayer who cling to the One Shepherd who brings them to green pastures. He is the one who will lead us to true joy, peace and love.
I read today in a stone engraved in a grotto to Our lady at the Missionaries’ convent: a soul of prayer is a soul of great silence.
Let take advantage of this advent season to silence our hearts and encounter the Good Shepherd of our souls.
