Recently, I was meditating on the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. Jesus told these two parables after the Pharisees complained because Jesus welcomed tax collectors and sinners and even ate with them.

Jesus tells us that he goes after a sinner in the same way a shepherd goes after a lost sheep. He will leave the 99 in the desert as he goes after the one who strayed. But the reality is that no rational shepherd would walk away from the flock to rescue one lost sheep. It just doesn’t make sense. All the other sheep would be easy prey for hungry wolves. The parable suggests that God’s love isn’t rational.

The same is true with that lost coin. A woman has 10 coins and loses one. She finds it after much effort and throws a party for all in the neighborhood. The problem is the coin was a drachma, worth about one day’s wages. That means that the party would probably cost more than the coin was worth.

This is another example that tells us that God’s love for us really doesn’t make sense. The Lord gives us an example of how we should love one another. When a couple love each other and get married, their love and what they do for each other often seems extravagant. That is because true love is irrational. This is why St. Paul tells us that the love of a Christian husband and wife is an example of how God loves us.

We can all ask ourselves, how often is our love irrational?

God bless.