Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 9, 2024 - Tuesday in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
[Hos 8:4-7, 11-13 and Matt 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." [Matthew]
JULY 9 [St. John of Cologne OP and Companions, martyrs; St. Francis de Capillas OP and Companions, martyrs. The scriptures of the day may vary at Dominican locations.]
[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." [Matthew]
Praying for "vocations" is something that most Catholics are accustomed to. In the minds of many, however, this still means praying for others to decide on a "vocation" to priesthood or religious life. It may not occur to the one who is praying for "vocations" that the prayer should extend to the "pray-ER."
Jesus' words in today's gospel passage speak to the necessity for more people to respond to the great needs of the world in a way that demonstrates discipleship. On the sacramental level, the lack of priests can mean the Eucharist is lacking. That is a serious deficit, but it is not the only deficit. The Permanent Diaconate (an outcome of Vatican II) is helping, but that too is not enough. Dioceses are experiencing difficulty finding diaconal candidates to serve in rural areas. The need to bring the Word of God and the compassion of Christ to the world is much larger than sacramental service, as important as that is. There are lay missionary efforts but these are still small in comparison to the need. The challenge of training such missionaries is also a problem.
Pope Francis' recent efforts to introduce "synodality" into our church life is one way of getting everyone to realize that the gospel is not just the job of ordained clergy or professed religious. Perhaps the "top down" control over ministry may need some "tweaking" to get more people interested. Right now, it is everyone's task to realize that we are all called to be shepherds by our baptism. Pope Francis uses the term "missionary disciples." The harvest master IS sending laborers but the laborers are not hearing the call because the traditional way of thinking about it has not changed enough. It may not be that we are refusing to answer, but that we are not even hearing the phone ringing!!! AMEN