11/6/2014 – Thursday of 31st week in ordinary time – Luke 15:1-10

       We’ve all been lost before, haven’t we, when we couldn’t find our way?  When we’re lost, it is not a very good feeling.  I remember a couple of times when I was walking to one of the villages I had to visit in the jungle as a missionary, thinking I had made a wrong turn or didn’t know where I was going.  I was terrified.  I didn’t know how I would find my way back, I didn’t know who would help me.   Luckily, I always seemed to find my way back somehow, or I always found someone to give me directions. 

      Today, we hear Jesus telling the parable of the lost sheep.  If only one of a flock of 100 sheep is lost, the good shepherd finds him and brings him back.  Jesus is that good shepherd for us.  No matter how lost we feel, Jesus is there ready to carry us on his shoulders, helping us in our time of need.

       There a lot of different shepherds that the Lord has entrusted to care for his flock throughout history.  Spain is a country that has been on the forefront of Catholicism and it has produced some of the Church’s most beloved saints, such as Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross, and Teresa of Avila.  But Spain has had some very dark times throughout its history as well.  During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, more that 6,800 priests and members of religious congregations, including 16 bishops, were martyred for the faith. More than 4,000 lay people were killed for helping or hiding them. The Church has beatified or canonized more than 1,000 them as Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, mostly under Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II. November is the month of remembrance when we remember the faithful departed and those who passed down the faith to us. May we remember the Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War and all those others who have continued the work of Jesus the Good Shepherd in the world.

9/24/2013 – Tuesday of 25th week in Ordinary Time - Luke 8:19-21

     Jesus talks about a new family of faith that is formed amongst those who follow him.  And it is not those who claim him in name only, but those who hear the Word of God and who actively live out those words in their lives. When we think about people who live out their faith in extraordinary ways, we might think about the saints and in particular the martyrs who were willing to give up their lives for their faith.  Earlier this week, we celebrated the Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, which included many nuns and priests who died from the faith at the hands of the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. In fact, next month, Pope Francis is going to beatify 522 more martyrs from this period in history in a special ceremony in Terragona, Spain.  While the saints are such wonderful examples of faith for us, we are all called to be disciples of Christ in the midst of the reality we face in our lives.  Living out the faith and being true brothers and sisters of Christ may entail different types of sacrifice and hardship.  That is the challenge before us each day – hearing the Word of God and applying it to the way we live our lives.