14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
How many of us can remember NOT hearing these words when listening to a vocation talk about the priesthood: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few”? And then we are asked to pray to God that he send more young men to serve as priests. There are so few left, and most are advanced in years. Do we pray as if God has forgotten or abandoned God’s Church, the Body of Christ? I do not believe that is the case.
God remains with God’s Church and continues to care and provide for the Church even in our Western world. Could it be that many of us are not recognizing the diverse vocations God is actually sending for his beloved Church? Or have we already determined that God can only call young men? Is it possible that at this juncture in our church history, we are mimicking many of the Hebrews of old who vigorously defended their understanding of who belonged and who would be excluded?
Do we believe God is free to choose whomsoever God pleases to serve his Church? Let us not forget the power of prayer in this process. Let us pray that the “master of the harvest send out laborers for his harvest,” and may we be disposed to recognize and to accept whomsoever he sends. It is still God’s Church, and our prayers are a vital part of its growth and prosperity.
Along similar lines, we turn to the first reading, Isaiah, for today’s liturgy: Rejoice and be glad all you who are mourning over Jerusalem. For us who mourn over the Church of God, what Isaiah says about his beloved Jerusalem, we say about our beloved Church. The same images apply. May we “suck fully from the milk of her comfort”. God has promised to “spread prosperity” over Jerusalem [Church] like a river. Our meditation this Sunday takes us to Isaiah’s many vivid images of motherhood and the feminine aspects of God and the Church. Let us be comforted and “fondled in her lap”, knowing that God’s promises bring us hope and reassurance.
Let Us Pray:
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit into our hearts that we may trust that you will provide the laborers our Church needs to continue the mission and open us to accept all those you call. Amen.
