“The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” – Matthew 9: 37-38
Today’s Gospel reading is a story of both desperation and empowerment. We encounter Christ in the midst of his travels, teaching and healing the communities surrounding Jerusalem. Despite his truly miraculous efforts, the need of the people of God persisted. Christ is moved with pity for the abandoned and lost he continues finds in his path, time and time again. Frustrated and saddened by these circumstances, Christ humbly turns to his disciples and emboldens them to become healers in the name of God in their own right. Sanction by Christ, the disciples were called to give freely of themselves to meet the needs of the world around them.
In my life, I have been blessed to have incredible bosses and mentors. Drawn to their charismatic nature, I yearned to follow intheir footsteps in hopes of accomplishing something special. Admittedly, in my youth, I put these individuals on pedestals. I often found myself in the presence of success, but never quite feeling it was my own. Whether it was lack of confidence in my own abilities, or the greatness of theirs’s, our achievements were inauthentic as they were not truly shared. It was not until these individuals took the time to recognize my gifts and invite me to share them through our common work, did I feel that the greatness we were striving for was mutual.
It takes courage to achieve greatness individually, but I believe it takes even more to be vulnerable and admit when you need help. Christ is capable of healing all the ailments he encounters, but he sees how god’s kingdom may flourish with the help of others. By empowering his disciples to begin their own ministry of healing, Christ illuminates the God-given grace within each one of us.
God of compassion and understanding, empower me to use my gifts to bring out the greatness of others.
Amen.
Ben Horgan
To view the full Advent 2021 booklet in English, click here.
For Spanish, click here.
For French, click here.