Isaiah 40:1-11 / Matthew 18:12-14
We may not really know what the world of the after-life is about.
After all, no one has come back from the dead to tell us.
All we know is what Jesus told us about death, judgement, heaven and hell.
Besides that there are also some reflections from St. Paul’s letters in the New Testament.
In today’s gospel, we get another glimpse of what heaven is like and what happens there.
Jesus says that God, and also the whole of heaven, rejoices when a sinner repents and is saved.
It is amazing, just to know that God, with the angels and saints, rejoice when just one sinner repents and turns back to God.
And the 1st reading reiterates this when it says: God is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them to his breast, and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
In coming to know all that, we know that repentance and conversion is such a joyful experience.
May the joy of heaven be also on earth as we pray for ourselves and others for a deeper repentance and conversion.