Summary: Darkness within our minds and spirits is not what God wills for us. Those who call upon God and allow him to rule their lives receive the light that dispels the darkness within.
Summary: Things and people who are lost have some value in and of themselves, but greater value because of the one to whom to they belong. Today’s Gospel reminds us of the value we have in God’s eyes, even when we are have turned from him.
We are also challenged not to let others be lost to us.
Summary: The church is a community of the lost who have been found. We are called in turn to be the messengers of good news to those who are still lost.
The stories of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin represent two-thirds of a trilogy of parables completed by the parable of the Prodigal Son. The first and third parables tell us something about God, to be sure, but the middle parable — involving women, a lost coin and living successfully above the poverty line — is set in our world. The Real World.