Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 3, 2013 - Thursday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 and Luke 10:1-12]The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the vineyard to send out laborers for his harvest.
In many places that I visit as part of my itinerant ministry, I hear prayers for "vocations to the religious life and priesthood." While I would not want to discourage this, I would, at the same time, want to ENCOURAGE prayers simply for "laborers in the vineyard." I say this because there is a feeling that only the religious and priests are qualified to be those laborers. In point of fact, everyone of us, by virtue of our baptism, is officially a laborer in the Lord's vineyard. Since the Second Vatican Council, there is no question that many laity have discovered the joy of working in the Lord's vineyard, but there is still some reluctance. Some folks feel too shy. Some feel that "apostolate" is the exclusive realm of officially commissioned or ordained people. Others consider faith to be too private a matter to share. There are many reasons.
When we ask the master of the vineyard to send out more laborers, do we silently or unconsciously say, "but not ME?" It's something to think about! AMEN