“See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go to seek that which is gone astray? And if it be so that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than for the ninety-nine that went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.”
While one should seek to heal with love those who are wrapped in sin, yet not at the cost of one’s own spiritual health and beauty, the Lord here sets in place that service and spiritual friendships should be cultivated and preferred: “But be continually with a holy man, whomsoever thou shalt know to observe the fear of God” (Ecclesiasticus 37:15), for while the spiritually dead need ministering to: “How then shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear, without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent” (Romans 10:14-15), the Catholic Church is your family: “Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:50). Thus, it is a call to be gentle, careful, shining example to those that are little in their spiritual maturity: “Now we that are stronger, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1), familiar friends with the spiritually strong: “A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality: and they that fear the Lord, shall find him. He that feareth God, shall likewise have good friendship: because according to him shall his friend be” (Ecclesiasticus 6:16-17), and, while ministering in kindness to those that are not, realize that the medicine of your love and the truth may be bitter on the tongue of the sick: “By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut” (Matthew 13:14-15). Friendship can wrap around any commonality, but the deepest friendships are those built on Christ, for in these there is a mutual pursuit of true human flourishing: “A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found him, hath found a treasure” (Ecclesiasticus 6:14), with the bond being a true source of strength for your soul: “And Jonathan the son of Saul arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God” (1 Kings 23:16). Now, when Jesus mentions that the little ones should not be despised, this can have three interpretations: The first is children, which are beautiful treasures, the second is the spiritually immature that need patience and good example, the third is what the Church Fathers call the perfect, those who are little in the eyes of the world, yet rich in love and spiritual goods: “With me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice. For my fruit is better than gold and the precious stone, and my blossoms than choice silver. I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment” (Proverbs 8:18-20), all of which are dear to God and are your true family, co-members of your mystical body, and should be treated with love as such: “For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church: because we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:29-30). All of these are more in tune with the voices of their angel guardians than those that are not pursuing Christ in truth, for the voice of peace that plays the heartstrings of the faithful are the angels of God, whereas what seem like sweet harmonies on the hearts of those that are not on the way are the voices of fallen angels. While an angel guardian is given to every soul at birth, many despise the voice of this angel: “Behold this nation hath… despised to hearken to my voice” (Judges 2:20), but when they can take the loving invitations of the will of God and peacefully place them in the soul, this is harmony with one’s angel: “Behold I will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared. Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be contemned: for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and my name is in him. But if thou wilt hear his voice, and do all that I speak, I will be an enemy to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee” (Exodus 23:20-22). Now, the spiritual nature of angels means that even in their ministering to you and others, they do not lose the joys of the sight of God, and so you are called to imitate them by having a place in your heart of the love of Jesus, no matter what your activity: “Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17). The angels also carry the prayers of the faithful to God: “And another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God” (Apocalypse 8:3), and to despise, offend and revile one whose every prayer is pleasing to God and lovingly handed off as letters written to Him through their messenger angel is nothing short of perilous: “Therefore, he that despiseth these things, despieth not man, but God, who also hath given his holy Spirit in us” (1 Thessalonians 4:8). When Jesus then says that the Son of Man came to save what is lost, by this He means the entirety of the human race, for all creation works in its own harmony, with Psalm 103 being the greatest hymn of praise for this: “May the glory of the Lord endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works” (Psalm 103:31), but mankind, by the influence of the serpent, fell out of this harmony. Now, when you have unmade yourself through sin or error, call upon Him that made you to remake you: “Behold, I make all things new” (Apocalypse 21:5), and let Him craft you into something magnificent: “And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands” (Isaias 64:8). This in turn is explained with a parable, that there were the ninety-nine sheep that represent angels; for if every individual has a guardian angel, and there be nine choirs of angels that, in addition to guardians, fulfill many other offices, the number of them must be terrifyingly great, but Jesus stepped down in love from this heavenly kingdom to seek out His lost little ones: “Shall I not spare Ninive, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that know not how to distinguish between their right hand and their left” (Jonas 4:11). When He says there is greater rejoicing for the finding of the sheep, this shows that love was expressed in greater fashion through mankind’s redemption than in the creation of angels. It can also refer to the incredible joy in heaven over the repentance of even one sinful person, for many that are habituated in righteousness are secure and can often fall into routine, whereas the heart struck to the core with contrition pours out affection and thanksgiving in any way they can: “And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; and standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment” (Luke 7:37-38). By striving to make up for time spent far from His love, they draw all the closer, that they may not be lost again to the darkness and by their placement in the furnace of merciful love, burn all the hotter: “Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?” (Canticle 8:5). Finally, this can mean that there are many who, filled with virtue and truth, do not cultivate a relationship of love with Jesus, and so He goes to the lowly and outcast who just wants to be loved, to provide for their need, and the love that then radiates from them inspires the righteous to aim even higher, moving past themselves and the mind into the reaches of the heart: “For thy breasts are better than wine” (Canticle 1:1), wine often symbolizing excellent doctrine. The Father loves all His children, for each person is a magnificent piece of art that He wants to see make the world a more beautiful place, but in their rejecting His love, they lead themselves to ugliness and destruction: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of fire” (Apocalypse 20:15).