Feast of St Nicholas, Bishop.

"The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic Gods giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves."  (St. Nicholas of Myra).

"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.”  (Matthew 18: 12 - 14).

Tuesday 6th December 2022 of the 2nd Week of Advent is the feast of St Nicholas (270 - 349 ). St. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra in present day Turkey. He was one of the 318 Bishops at the Council of Nicaea and signed the famous document, the Nicene Creed.
His anonymous gift-giving around Christmas to the poor and destitute could not be secret for long. This custom became a tradition around the Feast of St Nicholas and today Santa Claus is a favorite feast of children in many countries of the world.

The Lord puts before us the parable of the Lost and Found Sheep. How do you feel when you lose or misplace something valuable? I do not consider myself a miser. I confess that I embarrass myself how diligently I search for something until I find it. Or I am forced to stop searching because the search has become absurd and ridiculous.

Friends, I call the Gospel of today the Power of One. You may not believe it, our God cares a lot about details. One sheep, one coin, one little child. The world does not waste time on details. They are only interested in the arithmetic of large numbers: millions, billions, etc.

I still regret the years when I apply this arithmetic to my ministry. Write, teach only to large groups. I am deeply impressed that in many parishes where I have attended week day Mass, sometimes only a handful of people are present. Yet the priest celebrates the Eucharist and preaches with gusto. This makes me remember:

"In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

"Paris is worth a Mass," so the saying goes. If bringing home one lost sheep causes rejoicing in Heaven, God forbid that I will deny Heaven such a joy!

"My Heart is moved to pity for this little flock and My love is stirred to help them according to the desires that I have placed deep within them." (IN SINU JESU, Friday, February 8, 2008 At D., Ireland).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com