August 12, 2025 -- Tuesday of the 19th week, odd year

Deut 31:1-8; Matt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

Homily

Jesus' disciples were always concerned about which one of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven! And what is most disconcerting and even tragic is that they began to argue about this precisely after Jesus had begun to announce His passion and death to them.

Today's Gospel gives us two of Jesus' responses to His disciples' concern. In the first, He invites them to become like little children again. The qualities of childhood are simplicity, purity of heart, spontaneity, openness, and truthfulness. These are the qualities that Jesus expects to find in His disciples. These are the virtues that Jesus strove to instill in His Apostles. That is why, often in the Gospel, when He speaks of “His little ones,” He is speaking of His Apostles.

In the second part of the text, Jesus invites His Apostles—and all of us—to imitate Him in His concern for the little ones, the wounded, and those who are lost. He invites us not only to put the lost sheep before all our other possessions, but also to rejoice when the lost sheep is found.

Let us remember how, in the parable of the prodigal son, what the second son (the one who stayed at home) is reprimanded for is his inability to join in the celebration and rejoice at his brother's return. He is calculating, wondering what the meaning of all the music and singing is. He does not know how to rejoice, and above all, he does not know how to rejoice that his prodigal brother has returned home.

If we are here today and can celebrate the Eucharist, is it not because one day the Lord left the other 99 sheep to come looking for us?

Armand Veilleux