August 11, 2026  // Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin

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

Reflect on the Word // 

When I was in college, I met up with my middle-school-principal dad and some of his students who were at a theme park in the city where I was a student. We spent the day riding rollercoasters and walking around the park. Then at one point, early in the afternoon, I realized I was missing one of my earrings. I was wearing a pair of pearls my parents had gifted me for high school graduation and I was devastated to think one was lost.

My dad and I retraced our countless steps and then he had the idea to check the seat of a particularly intense ride, one that earlier in the day had banged my head from side to side so hard that I remembered the pounding. Sure enough, there, in one of the seats, was my pearl, nestled in the outline of the padding. My dad and I screamed and laughed and hugged each other in disbelief. 

The story of the lost sheep is always an important reminder that Jesus loves us so much. He loves each of us as if it were only us. We are not just some number in the crowd, a cog in the machine. We are each seen and known and cherished uniquely and individually by the Lord. 

This is a beautiful truth for us to accept personally and also to remember for our loved ones. Our children, our siblings, our parents—the Lord is searching for and cares for them deeply. Even when circumstances feel impossible, God can make a way. 

To Jesus, we are the lost sheep, the lost pearl. The Lord tells us that it is not His will for any of us to be lost. “In the first place,” writes St. John of the Cross, “it should be known that if a person is seeking God, his Beloved is seeking him much more” (The Living Flame of Love, Stanza 3, Para. 28).

Relate to the Lord // Reread the quote from Saint John of the Cross. Take a few moments to consider how much the Lord is seeking you.