In this parable, one of the 100 sheep lost its way and fallen down a hill. The shepherd left the 99 sheep in the open country and went after the lost sheep until he found it.

The shepherd in the parable has to assume that the 99 sedentary sheep will be able to take care of themselves while he leaves them alone – "in open country," as Luke writes it.

This parable is one of six known as prayer parables: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Lost Son, The Pharisee and Tax Collector, The Friend at Midnight, and the Persistent Widow.

However, Francis observed that “a paradox” in the parable that could cause one to doubt the Shepherd’s actions is found with the question: “Is it wise to abandon the 99 for only one sheep?

Some are extravagant to the point of absurdity, like the story of the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to search for a single lost sheep.

Charlotte McDonald said the committee’s name reflected a parable in the Bible where a shepherd leaves a herd of 99 sheep to find one that had been lost.

However, Francis observed that "a paradox" in the parable that could cause one to doubt the shepherd's actions is found with the question "is it wise to abandon the 99 for only one sheep?

Death and the afterlife The Parable of the Sheep and Goats The view that a person holds about the afterlife is bound to affect the value given to this current life.

In his first general audience since his election to the papacy, Pope Francis on Wednesday (March 27) urged Catholics to leave their comfort zone to search for “lost sheep.” ...

Ninety-nine sheep were chosen to represent the 99 names for God in Islam and were given to underprivileged Senegalese families ahead of Muslim religious holiday of Tabaski The Israeli embassy in ...