December 9, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14

Reflect on the Word // 

It happened again. The very thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do, the habit I swore I had under control—I fell into it once more. Shame settled heavy in my chest almost immediately, a thought crept in: Maybe this is just who I am. Maybe I will never be free of this. I sat there, discouraged, wondering how many times was too many times for grace. 

In today’s Gospel (see Matthew 18:12-14), Jesus tells a story about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for the one that has wandered. I’ve read it before, but lately it hits differently. Jesus doesn’t say the sheep wandered once and learned its lesson. Sheep are prone to wander—that’s what they do. And still, the shepherd searches. Still, he carries the sheep back. Still, he rejoices at finding it.

That image tells me something I struggle to believe too often: My failure does not disqualify me from God’s love. My repeated weakness doesn’t cause Him to turn away in disgust. My inability to “get it right” doesn’t exhaust His patience. Instead, it stirs His compassion. His pursuit, like that of the shepherd, is not based on my ability to stay perfectly close, but on His unwavering commitment to seek me when I drift.

I haven’t mastered discipline. I haven’t conquered every sin pattern. But maybe the point isn’t boasting in mastery—it’s learning to trust my Good Shepherd’s mercy and the help of His grace. Maybe holiness looks less like a flawless record and more like being willing to be carried home, again and again.

We often think of discipleship as steady progress upward, but Jesus frames it as a relationship: a Shepherd Who notices, pursues, and delights in each of us. So when we wander—and we will—may we remember that we are never lost beyond His reach. The Father’s will is that not one of His little ones should perish (see Matthew 18:14). That includes you, sister, and me, even here, still learning, still struggling, still being found.

Relate to the Lord // What would being held and carried by the Shepherd look like for you today?