Lost and Found

1. "'Young man, I tell you, arise!' The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother." Lk 7:14-15

When I was a boy, I remember being in a large department store and seeing a young woman running around frantically looking for her child. When finally she found him, she was ecstatic. Whether she had lost sight of him while shopping or he had wandered off wasn't clear, but her relief was full as she hugged and kissed him, and her joy left a lasting impression on me.

Imagine how the widow in today's gospel felt when Jesus responded to her grief by raising her son from the dead! Overwhelmed by the Lord's gracious compassion, she says nothing. Her life which appeared to be over, is restored. Without a means of support after her son died, she can begin again to live with dignity and hope.

The most basic teaching of baptism is that we have all been found and reborn. We have been returned to our mother, the church, the community of believers, many times over through the sacrament of reconciliation, and we can be sure that God will never give up on us. Appreciating these simple but profound truths is the stuff of everyday spirituality and when they lead us towards a life of gratitude and service they make us the Christians we were called to be.

Today, celebrate a memory when God found you even when you did not know you were lost.

To whom are you most grateful for never giving up on you?