Education: The parable of the lost sheep

THE GOSPEL AS A SOURCE OF EDUCATION

The parable of the lost sheep

GOSPEL
«Who among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and goes after the lost one, until he finds it? Find her, she happily puts her on her shoulder, goes home, calls friends and neighbors saying: Rejoice with me, because I found my sheep that was lost. Thus, I say to you, there will be more joy in heaven for a converted sinner, than for ninety-nine righteous who need no conversion.

SUMMARY
The parable of the lost sheep is a wonderful story told by Jesus to illustrate the love and compassion that God has for those who are his. The parable is found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and is in response to Jesus criticized and attacked by religious leaders for "having eaten with sinners". Jesus stops the crowd and begins to tell how a shepherd left his flock of 99 sheep to go looking for a lost sheep.

This parable shows a wonderful meaning of God who seeks the lost sinner and rejoices when they are found. We serve a good shepherd whose heart is for us to be found, saved and renewed.

EDUCATIONAL FORM
This parable said by Jesus teaches us that we do not always deal with people who have good things but also with someone who inspires evil. According to Jesus' pedagogical teaching, no one should be abandoned but all must be sought, in fact, Jesus leaves the ninety-nine sheep to look for the lost one which, in my opinion, was the weakest or the worst since he had for no reason abandoned the flock of sheep. So to be a good educator you don't have to look for who is good in behavior but to get good from those who behave badly and how did Jesus go looking for choosing pedagogy as a source of vocation and not of profession.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FORM
From the psychological point of view we can say that Jesus the good shepherd goes in search of the lost sheep which, as we have said, is weak or bad. So know, as Jesus teaches us, that when we get lost we are sought and loved by God beyond our good or bad behavior. So this way of doing Jesus invites us to do it also with other men to implement the centerpiece of life which is mutual love.

Written by Paolo Tescione