Homily for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, (Friday in the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time), delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld.

"The Lord God says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I shall bring them out of the countries where they are; I shall gather them together from foreign countries and bring them back to their own land. I shall pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in every inhabited place in the land. I shall feed them in good pasturage; the high mountains of Israel will be their grazing ground. There they will rest in good grazing ground; they will browse in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them where to rest – it is the Lord who speaks. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them." (Ez 34:11-16).

"Jesus spoke this parable to the scribes and Pharisees: ‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it...? In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.’" (cf. Lk 15:3-7).

Artwork: a painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hanging above the entrance of Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church, Mt Larcom.