"When He saw the crowds He was moved with pity, for they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is abundant but the workers are only few.'" - Matthew 9:36-37
As a young Catholic going to mass every Sunday for most of my life, I noticed that the church was filled with mostly older people. Every grandma I knew was religious with Rosary beads in her hands. That's why I was astonished to learn the most of the world's Catholics are actually under 25 years of age!
In the verse above, Jesus is looking out at all the people and is moved with compassion. In that crowd were terminally sick people, depressed people, people who were grieving the loss of a loved one, people who couldn't make ends meet, parents worried about their children, children without parents, and couples suffering through marital problems… and Jesus saw them and knew how much help they needed. They were all lost, as sheep without a shepherd, left to carry the weight by themselves. On the news we see so many people that need help. We get angry when we see starving and neglected children. Why doesn't God do anything about this, we ask. But don't you see that you are the answer to what God is trying to do about it? As Jesus looked out at the hurting crowd, He said to His apostles that the harvest is abundant but the workers are few. There are many troubled people who need help, but there are very few people who have the courage to help, or even the interest to help! Could you imagine what mass would look like, or the change in the youth of today if the majority of Catholic Christians truly lived out their faith? It would be incredible! Therefore, don't stand on the sidelines and complain about what's going on. You don't have to go to Africa to feed starving children, but maybe someone in your own family needs you to plant a seed of faith into their heart. Maybe God is putting something in your heart for you to do, to help His harvest, to help His people. In Jesus' Name, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you so that you can have the honor of doing the Lord's work in the lives of the people you encounter, and to be a guide for the Church today and to those young people who follow after us, who look up to us. God has put it all in our hands… how are YOU responding to that?
Today's Prayer:
God, make me an instrument of Your work here on Earth. Open my eyes and heart to respond to the needs of Your people. Show me how much depends on me and how I need to be a light in the darkness for the lost to follow. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment