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EN
It may seem that the main goal of the parable of the lost sheep (Mt 18, 12-14; Lk 15, 4-7) is to make us aware how much God loves sinners and how deeply He wants to regain them. The Fathers of the Church, of course, knew that kind of interpretation, nevertheless very early in history they started to apply a com­pletely different explanation to the lost and found sheep. Already in the 2nd cen­tury we can find the statement that the sheep is not a single sinner but the entire human nature, which got lost through the original sin committed by Adam and was found and renewed thanks to the incarnation of God’s Son. In the Antiquity, it was universally believed that human life had a common dimension. That belief was a great part of ancient philosophy as well as the biblical tradition. Some of the Fathers understood the communion even deeper than others as they imagined the humanity as a living organic entity. The concept of the ontological unity of human nature was developed mostly by three Fathers: Irenaeus (2nd century), Methodius of Olympus (died c. 311) and Gregory of Nyssa (died c. 394). All three of them used the parable of the lost sheep as an example that could explain this doctrine. Besides, two more Fathers, Origen and Ambrose of Milan, spoke about the unity of the humanity when they explained the parable of the lost sheep, though their interpretation of this unity is completely different. However all five Fathers have something in common, which allows me to compare their deliberations on the parable together.
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2017
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vol. 64
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issue 6: Teologia pastoralna
53-65
EN
Sacred Scripture provides indications of how to channel pastoral care in the parish so that pastors and lay evangelizers will be merciful like the Father. The Merciful God is pre¬sented in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Drachma and the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Pope Francis in Misericordiae Vultus observes that in these parables we discover “the core of the Gospel and of our faith, because mercy is presented as a force that overcomes everything, filling the heart with love and bringing consolation through pardon” (MV, 9). God is portrayed as the Merciful Father searching for those who have left the community of the faithful or got lost in the Church. This image is a foundation for creating a pastoral vision for the parish. From this perspective mercy does not apply only to the charity practices but becomes evangeli¬sation which opens for a personal meeting with Jesus Christ in the Gospel, liturgy, sacraments and the community. From these parables the “imagination of mercy” is born, the imagination which should permeate the parish and indicate the style of pastoral care. The realisation of mercy consists in going to the peripheries of the parish in order to search for those who have left or got lost (cf. NMI, 50). The new “imagination of mercy” encourages us to use the law of gradualness in pastoral care (cf. EG, 34-39; AL, 293-295) and the strategy of facilitation (cf. EG, 44).
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