Daily Catholic Lectio
Thu, 6 Nov ‘25
Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday
Romans 14:7-12. Luke 15:1-10
The Pain of Losing
The Word of God today opens before us a familiar yet profound human experience — the pain of losing. In Luke 15:1–10, Jesus speaks of a shepherd who loses one sheep and of a woman who loses one coin. Both are stories of loss — and of a love that refuses to give up searching.
In both parables, we see the same rhythm of pain and joy: the pain of losing, the effort of searching, and the joy of finding. The shepherd and the woman share three traits. First, they take responsibility for what is lost. Second, they never stop searching until they find it. Third, they rejoice and share their joy when it is found.
Loss is not only an external experience but an interior wound. When something goes missing — money, a book, a ring, a person — our heart trembles between hope and fear. We question ourselves, feel guilty, and sometimes even blame others. It is in these moments that we learn how fragile attachment is and how deep longing can be.
Yet, Jesus teaches that God too feels this pain of losing — not things, but people. God aches for every soul that strays. Heaven rejoices not over the ninety-nine who remain, but over the one who was lost and found. What we call repentance is really God’s joy rediscovered.
In the first reading (Romans 14:7–12), Paul speaks of another kind of losing — the spiritual art of losing ourselves in Christ. “None of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself; whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” To belong to Christ is to lose the self-centred life and to gain the life that finds its centre in Him.
The shepherd risks his comfort, the woman sacrifices her rest, and Paul surrenders his self-will — all because they have tasted the pain of losing and the joy of finding. To lose for love is not destruction, but redemption.
There is, therefore, a holy side to loss. When we lose our pride, our selfishness, our illusions, we create space for God. When we let go of control, we find the gentle hand of the Shepherd guiding us home.
Every loss, however painful, carries within it the seed of grace. It draws us to the God who never stops searching, who bears our pain in His heart, and who calls us to the same compassionate love.
In the end, the Gospel reminds us: the pain of losing is real, but in the heart of God, no one is ever truly lost.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
Leave a comment