Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 5, 2017 - Thursday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 and Luke 10:1-12]THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017 THURSDAY IN THE TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 and Luke 10:1-12] Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborer a are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." [Luke] As the mission begins to expand beyond Galilee, it becomes necessary to expand the team. Jesus appoints seventy-two more disciples and sends them out as advance preachers. But he also asks them to pray for more disciples to help with the mission. Ultimately the abundant harvest will depend on the cooperation of human disciples with God's inspiring grace. I am currently preaching a retreat for the priests of the Tucson, AZ, diocese. It is a mission diocese and many of the priests are by themselves at their little churches. Only in the larger cities of the diocese are there parishes with assistant priests. The presbyterate here is largely international: African, Latin American, Filipino and Indian. Many of these priests are "on loan" from their bishops in their own country, so the new bishop (just announced yesterday) inherits a fundamental vocational problem. Why are there not more from our own culture coming forward for the mission? The same is true for the diocese of Lubbock, TX, where I live. Research has shown that where families encourage their offspring to consider religious life or priesthood, there are good results. The same is true if parishioners notice someone they think might be a good priest or sister or brother and encourage them. At the Catholic Student Center at Texas Tech, we try to create a "culture of vocations" to encourage students to be intentional in their vocational decisions. The success of the Texas A&M Catholic student center is well-known in this area. We currently have two Texas A&M former students in our formation program and one from Texas Tech. Jesus' challenge to us to pray that the Master of the Harvest send more laborers means also to encourage potential laborers. Do you know anyone? AMEN
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