Fr. Carlo Di Sopra, sx
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Good news for those who work for the Kingdom of God: the harvest is abundant, there is no risk of becoming redundant! In fact the labourers are still few, there is plenty to do!
In this short sentence we can see the heart and mind of Jesus, his desire to reach out to as many people and villages as possible, to all in fact, until all are made one!
Though the task for him is huge, we often observe how Jesus is not anxious and he does not overdo it. Often in fact he goes to deserted places to pray, or he spends the necessary time even with only one person, or with the small group of the disciples. How then, to reach out to all?
He does not work alone! He seeks the help of the disciples, for example when there are thousands of people to feed as seen in today’s Gospel, he appoints seventy-two other people to go to the villages he wanted to visit.
When I read this passage I immediately think of the Prayer Leaders in the different missions where we announce the Gospel. Sometimes we are two or at most three fathers for more than 40 communities. How to follow all of them? We do this with the help of the Prayer Leaders, people who freely and greatly cooperate in the task of first proclamation. They regularly gather in the centres to prepare themselves and to plan with the Fathers, and then they lead the communities in prayer, accompany those who are born and those who die, many times they take care of the catechesis in preparation for the baptism of new candidates and keep in touch with the centre of the Mission for any other initiative. They do not receive a salary for their work but feel joy to be active part in the Church.
Jesus prepares them with a few words and then trusts them completely. They are sent out in pairs because they need to work together, in order to show that the church is a community. They do not need much to accomplish their task, poor and simple people are empowered for this leadership also, in fact they will look like lambs among wolves. It doesn’t matter; for Jesus it is enough that they are aware of the strength and power of the message they carry. They do not even seek recognition or populism: there is no need to greet all on the way, they concentrate on their mission, they have a normal simple life, but their power is to give peace to everybody who is ready for it, and make the Kingdom of God present. And this must be their joy, that their names are written in heaven, not in any other earthly benefit.
I still remember a Prayer Leader bringing us every day some rice to eat in the bush where we hid from the rebels, during the war. We, the two Fathers, lost in the forest, were so grateful to him and his family. But when we told him: ‘thank you’, he did not want to hear it. For him it was a joy to take part in the task of being disciple of Jesus and be able to do something concretely for the Gospel. That was his joy!
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Good news for those who work for the Kingdom of God: the harvest is abundant, there is no risk of becoming redundant! In fact the labourers are still few, there is plenty to do!
In this short sentence we can see the heart and mind of Jesus, his desire to reach out to as many people and villages as possible, to all in fact, until all are made one!
Though the task for him is huge, we often observe how Jesus is not anxious and he does not overdo it. Often in fact he goes to deserted places to pray, or he spends the necessary time even with only one person, or with the small group of the disciples. How then, to reach out to all?
He does not work alone! He seeks the help of the disciples, for example when there are thousands of people to feed as seen in today’s Gospel, he appoints seventy-two other people to go to the villages he wanted to visit.
When I read this passage I immediately think of the Prayer Leaders in the different missions where we announce the Gospel. Sometimes we are two or at most three fathers for more than 40 communities. How to follow all of them? We do this with the help of the Prayer Leaders, people who freely and greatly cooperate in the task of first proclamation. They regularly gather in the centres to prepare themselves and to plan with the Fathers, and then they lead the communities in prayer, accompany those who are born and those who die, many times they take care of the catechesis in preparation for the baptism of new candidates and keep in touch with the centre of the Mission for any other initiative. They do not receive a salary for their work but feel joy to be active part in the Church.
Jesus prepares them with a few words and then trusts them completely. They are sent out in pairs because they need to work together, in order to show that the church is a community. They do not need much to accomplish their task, poor and simple people are empowered for this leadership also, in fact they will look like lambs among wolves. It doesn’t matter; for Jesus it is enough that they are aware of the strength and power of the message they carry. They do not even seek recognition or populism: there is no need to greet all on the way, they concentrate on their mission, they have a normal simple life, but their power is to give peace to everybody who is ready for it, and make the Kingdom of God present. And this must be their joy, that their names are written in heaven, not in any other earthly benefit.
I still remember a Prayer Leader bringing us every day some rice to eat in the bush where we hid from the rebels, during the war. We, the two Fathers, lost in the forest, were so grateful to him and his family. But when we told him: ‘thank you’, he did not want to hear it. For him it was a joy to take part in the task of being disciple of Jesus and be able to do something concretely for the Gospel. That was his joy!