GOSPEL

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few”
From the Gospel according to Luke 10:1-9

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two 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 laborers are few;so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.Go on your way;behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;and greet no one along the way.Into whatever house you enter,first say, ‘Peace to this household.’If a peaceful person lives there,your peace will rest on him;but if not, it will return to you.Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,for the laborer deserves payment.Do not move about from one house to another.Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,eat what is set before you,cure the sick in it and say to them,’The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”

The Gospel of the Lord

Careful! They Are His.

The harvest belongs to the Lord! Let us never forget this, please. The harvest is God’s, and He sends us to His harvest. One of our problems is that we tend to take possession of His harvest. In church movements and parishes: Everyone belongs to the Lord, and we owe them the freedom to choose that place within the Church that brings them closer to the Lord. Let us not forget that. Many of the faithful are suffering because they are made to feel unfaithful for going to a different ecclesiastical setting that helps them draw closer to the Lord. We belong to Christ, they belong to Christ.

In the domestic church, which is our home, the same thing happens. Sometimes we want to take possession of our spouses or our children. They too belong first and foremost to God, and from that comes the enormous dignity and reverence with which we should treat them.

Applied to Married Life:

Charlie: I used to want to change you and mold you to fit my own image. Now I love it when St. John Paul speaks about the respect we owe one another. It’s not the kind of respect that says, “Do whatever you want, I have to respect you,” but the respect that comes from knowing that you belong to God and that God resides in your soul.

Teresa: And out of respect for who we are, children of God, we must behave as such. I ask you to help me make this a reality, encouraging me to belong to Christ. I was born for Him.

Charles: The truth is, I feel very small and unworthy of you and of this mission to which God is calling me: To administer His Love so that you may reach Him, through my self-giving. You are His princess, and that makes me tremble before God.

Teresa: We are very small for this mission. Let us ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of Piety, so that He may be the one to accomplish it.

Mother,

May we treat the harvest with the dignity of those who are sent by God. Praise be to Him, who shares His mission of salvation with us