Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 - Tuesday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time
[Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 and Matthew 9:32-38]The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.
There are two important points to be made about the line from today's gospel about the harvest. The point on the "left" side of the comma is that the harvest is indeed abundant and certainly at the present time in the USA, the laborers are getting fewer and fewer. Some dioceses in this country, particularly in the Midwest, are in critical condition in regard to vocations to the priesthood and religious life. That part of the line is easily verified from data available at a number of Catholic websites, such as the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. However, the line on the "right" side of the comma is one that we must give some thought to without immediately drawing the conclusion that our prayer must be only for more priests and religious! Jesus makes it clear that the harvest is a gift from God, and not the result of our efforts. Secondly, we must not assume that all the harvest workers have to be priests and religious or even that they must be in charge of the harvest. The harvest is the responsibility of every baptized Christian! I recommend to every Catholic that he/she read Pope Paul VI's wonderful EVANGELII NUNTIANDI (The Gospel to be Proclaimed) to encounter a beautiful and challenging description of the task and who is called to it. I certainly pray for more members of the Dominican Order, which includes priests, brothers, apostolic sisters, cloistered nuns and DOMINICAN LAITY. I pray too that our present efforts will be blessed by God with success. But if we're not going about it in the right way, I pray we will be taught the right way, no matter who the teacher is: Pope or Pewperson! AMEN
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