The Safety Vest

A friend of mine told me that she and her husband went hiking yesterday, but they needed to wear orange safety vests because it is hunting season and they didn’t want to get shot. Being from Southern California, this was a foreign reality to me, but what a fascinating prompt for spiritual contemplation. What spiritual gifts dress me in safety so I don’t get shot? What clothes me in protection? What identifies me as NOT a target? These prompts stirred in me all day and I have to say, intimacy with Jesus is the brightest safety vest I could ponder. Time spent in His presence each day, intentional, focused, intimate, and consistent is the way to clothe ourselves in identity that keeps us safe from the arrows aimed at us. Intimacy with God dresses us in the shelter of His wings and protects us from those rogue bullets that sometimes get fired when we are camouflaged in the world. This idea of being seen, of alerting others to our identity in Christ, of being safe, led me to ponder today’s gospel in a new way. 

Jesus sees us. He knows where we are at all times. He clothes us in reflective gear so that we are never out of sight. When we are unaware that we are lost, He has us already found, and sometimes we just need to stand still so He can come and scoop us up. This safety vest idea is not necessarily for Jesus to see us better, but to remind us that we are always safe when clothed in Him. It gives us the courage to keep walking even when hunters are on the prowl, and the world is against us. Sometimes I do just want to blend in and being camouflaged makes is easier for me to hide, but Jesus wants me to let Him scoop me up, and He wants me to deflect the arrows and bullets by reflecting His love. It also seems to me that when we clothe ourselves in this reflection of Jesus, we also notice His reflection in others. We become more aware when we wear our safety vests, and then not “one of these little ones will be lost.” We will begin to emulate that which we are…found, and when we are found, we will also help others to be found. 

Jesus rejoices over us today because we have let Him scoop us up and be found. As we go about our day, let’s wrap ourselves in the reflection of the one who sees us. It is well with my soul.

Reading 1 IS 40:1-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

A voice says, "Cry out!"
I answer, "What shall I cry out?"
"All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever."

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm PS 96:1-2, 3 AND 10AC, 11-12, 13

R.(see Isaiah 40:10ab)  The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The day of the Lord is near;
Behold, he comes to save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
"What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father

that one of these little ones be lost."