27 June 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: മലയാളം
“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7
Jesus tells of a shepherd with a hundred sheep who loses one. He leaves the ninety-nine and goes after the lost one “until he finds it. When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.” And he calls his friends: “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” God is not a cold judge counting sins; he is a shepherd who searches and carries. “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.”
St Paul tells the Corinthians that the Church is a body: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ… If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.” The family is the first place where we learn this: every member matters, the weakest most of all.
In the evening Gospel Jesus says hard things about forgiveness: “If the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” The apostles cry out: “Increase our faith!” Forgiving again and again needs faith that God is greater than our hurt. And Jesus adds: when you have done everything, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done.” No pride, only humble service.
At the Areopagus Paul tells the philosophers of Athens about the unknown God: “he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’” God is near every person, searching for them like the shepherd. Our homes should be places where the lost are welcomed back and where God's nearness is felt.
Theme: “The Shepherd who searches, the body that belongs together.”
Jesus tells of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep. Paul reminds us that we are many members of one body. The apostles pray: “Increase our faith.”
“I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.” Ezekiel 34:16
“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.” Luke 15:4–5
Apply: Pray for one person who has drifted from the Church, and reach out to them gently.
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1
“Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” Acts 4:32
Apply: Thank a family member or parishioner whose quiet service is often unnoticed.
“The LORD of hosts has sworn: As I have designed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it come to pass.” Isaiah 14:24
“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”” Luke 17:5–6
Apply: Each day this week pray the apostles' prayer: “Lord, increase my faith.”
The Shepherd seeks us, the body holds us, and faith keeps us humble and strong.
Let us return to him, belong to one another, and serve without seeking reward.
Take-home resolution: Make a good confession before the feast of St Thomas.
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus tells of a shepherd who has a hundred sheep and loses one. Ninety-nine are safe; why bother about one? But he leaves them and searches until he finds it. Then he lays it on his shoulders, joyful, and calls his friends: “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” That is how God looks at each of us. Not as a number, but as the one he is searching for.
St Paul says the Church is a body. “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice.” Our families are the first place we learn this. In a good family no one is left behind, not the sick grandparent, not the child who struggles in school, not the son or daughter who has wandered away.
In the evening Gospel Jesus asks something very hard: forgive your brother seven times in a day if he repents. The apostles cry out: “Increase our faith!” We cannot forgive like that by our own strength. We need faith that God is bigger than our hurt. And when we have done all this, Jesus says, we should say humbly: “We have done only what we ought to have done.”
Paul tells the Athenians: God “is not far from each one of us; in him we live and move and have our being.” Who is the lost sheep in your family, your street, your parish? Call them this week. Pray for them. Light the lamp for them in the evening. And let heaven rejoice. Amen.
Children, a shepherd had a hundred sheep. One got lost! Did he say, “Never mind, I still have ninety-nine”? No! He searched and searched until he found it.
Then he carried it home on his shoulders and had a party! Jesus loves each of us like that.
Is there someone who feels left out in your class or family? How can you help them feel loved?
Good Shepherd, you leave the ninety-nine to seek the one who is lost. Seek us when we stray and carry us home on your shoulders. Make our families one body in you, increase our faith to forgive again and again, and let heaven rejoice over every sinner who returns. Amen.