One of the many skills of a leader, and one of the most difficult to achieve, is the true art of delegation. St Paul in today's reading from Romans shows us how. Once satisfied that the team know how to get on with the basics, he stops interfering, letting them get on with it, and he moves on to a monitoring and encouraging role. He has spotted that they are doing OK in most respects, and gives them encouragement and prise for that, but he also provides advice on how to become even better.

This will sound familiar to all teachers - it is the normal day to day way of working. Parents, Managers, Coaches,  - anyone with people looking to them for leadership - will do well to follow St Paul's example.

St Luke reveals to us some of his mastery in literature. Using the device of a pair of related stories, when to make the point only one would be more than enough, is a device that emphasises the importance of our Lord's message.

And the message is - God will go to extended, unimaginable efforts to save any lost ones back to his family.

It can be easy to feel sad that someone we know and love seems to be far away from God - for example a grown child who no longer comes to Mass. There is a lot of comfort in the sure knowledge that even those who no longer seek the Lord, are being sought out by God - He never abandons even the least of the little ones.

Our part is both easy and difficult - keep on loving and praying for them, no matter how little the effect seems to be. God has everything in his care.

Looking through the Lens of love - if love is genuine - we see that each of the commandments against something have a range of positive virtues that come from Love.

For example, Though Shall Not Kill. If we love someone with God's true Love, then rather than kill, we would seek to nurture life wherever it exists. So, we would choose not to use the death sentence, not to euthanise, not to drive recklessly, not to consume goods with abandon when others are starving... and so on.

The only thing we need to do is to allow God's Love to be the lens through which we look at everything.