The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep

Posted By Cliff Tuttle | September 24, 2015

No. 1,221

SUMMARY: The Papal visit to America is, above all else, an evangelical outreach to lost sheep who want to be found.

Image: saltandlightly.org

The press coverage on the papal visit to Cuba and the United States was extremely interesting.  I actually heard a commentator express the opinion that the Pope went to Cuba first because he shares the ideology of the Cuban regime.

Well, maybe she was asleep in the pew on Sunday morning when the Gospel passage was read about the shepherd leaving the flock to search for one sheep that was lost.  Cuba officially left the fold almost sixty years ago.  The news photos of Fidel and Raul Castro each engaged in earnest conversation with the Holy Father, in my opinion, said it all. Such a tableaux would have never happened in the early days of Communist Cuba.

Just as these two old men are ready listen, so perhaps is the Cuban nation.  Pope Francis did Cuba a singular favor by mediating the secret negotiations to re-establish diplomatic relations with the United States.  Now it is pay back time.  And don’t believe that this Pope is so nieve or unworldly not to know it.

And now he is in America.  A different story, perhaps, but not totally.  There are a large number of lost sheep here, too.  And it seems to take an event such as this to cause us to reflect on things we should have known anyway. With the prosperity of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Century has come a culture of materialism.  It is invisible, like air.  But it affects us all.

One essential factor in the shepherd-sheep story is easily overlooked.  The Shepherd can come looking, but the sheep must want to be found.  Francis is betting that there are many millions of sheep on this continent who want to be found.

CLT

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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