NOVEMBER 5, 2026 FATHER FRANCIS SALASIAR CSC
Have you ever lost your keys? I mean really lost them, not just put them somewhere and forgotten where you put them, but truly lost them.
You look on the kitchen counter. Nothing. You check your pockets. Nothing. You go back to the car. Nothing. Then you start retracing your steps. You look under the furniture. You check places you know you already checked. And suddenly, nothing seems important. You just want to find those keys.
And when you finally see them, lying somewhere you never expected, there is that wonderful feeling. “Thank God! I found them.”
It is interesting how much effort we can put into finding something that is lost. And that is exactly the picture Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel.
Jesus tells us about a shepherd who has 100 sheep, loses one, and goes looking for it. He doesn’t say, “Well, I still have 99. That’s good enough.” He goes after one that was lost.
Then Jesus tells us about a woman who has 10 coins and loses one. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, searches carefully until she finds it. And when she finds it, she calls her neighbours and says, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.”
Why does Jesus tell these stories? Because he wants us to understand something very important about God. God does not see us as numbers. He sees us as persons.
For God, you are not one among many. You are not replicable. You are not forgotten. You are not simply another person in a crowd.
God knows you. He knows your name, he knows your story, he knows your struggles, your weaknesses, your disappointments, your hopes, and even the things you don’t talk about with anyone else. And when we become lost, God does not simply say, “That’s your problem.” He looks for us.
We live in a world that often tells us that our value depends on what we accomplish. If we are successful, productive, respected, and doing well, we feel good about ourselves.
But when we fail, when we make mistakes, when relationships break down, when we make choices we regret, when our faith becomes weak, we can beg to think, “Maybe God is disappointed in me. Maybe I have gone too far. Maybe I am no longer worthy of his love.”
Today’s Gospel tell us something completely different. God’s love does not begin when we become perfect. God’s love is what searches for us when we are lost.
That is the heart of these two parables. The sheep is lost; the coin is lost. But neither is forgotten.
And perhaps some of us need to hear that today. Maybe you feel that you have wandered away from God. Maybe you haven’t prayed the way you used to. Maybe something happened in your life that has made you angry with God. Maybe you simply feel spiritually tired and distant.
Jesus says you may feel far from God, but God is not far from you. The shepherd is still looking. The woman s still searching. God has not given up.
I noticed something else in today’s Gospel. When the shepherd finds his sheep, he doesn’t punish it. He puts it on his shoulders and carries it home. When the woman finds the coin, she doesn’t complain about how much trouble it caused her. She celebrates.
And Jesus says, “There will be more joy in heaven for one sinner who repents.” When we return to God, heaven rejoices.
Sometimes we imagine God waiting for us with a list of everything we have done wrong. But Jesus gives us a different image. He shows a God who is looking for us, who welcomes us, who carries us, and who rejoices when we come home.
That should also change the way we look at other people. If God searches for the lost, then we cannot give up on people simply because they have made mistakes. If God is patient with us, we need to learn to be patient with others. If God welcomes the sinners home, we cannot close the door on someone who is trying to return.
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep, and the parable of the lost coin, in response to the Pharisees and the scribes, who are not happy, who are murmuring because Jesus is meeting with the tax collectors and sinners, the so called “outcasts.”
For them, they do not deserve God’s love. For them, they are different, and they cannot come closer to God.
Jesus uses the extravagant, exaggerated imagery because he is trying to force open the horizons of our small, transactional hearts. We always judge and decide depending on our values and justice system. But God wants us to understand the scandalous, breathtaking nature of God’s love.
God never gives up on us. We may wander, but God continues to search. We may fall, but God reaches out. We may become distant, but God continues to look for us. We may forget God, but God never forgets us.
At the heart of today’s Gospel is a simple and beautiful truth: You are never lost to God.
The Shepherd knows where you are, the Shepherd is looking for you, and when he finds you, he does not say, “Where have you been?” He says, “Welcome home. I have been looking for you.”
Let us celebrate that love that God has for us.
