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First Week of Advent - Saturday
December 4, 2004
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus' heart was moved with pity, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, "The harvest is good, but laborers are scarce. Ask the master of the harvest to send laborers to gather his harvest."
Matthew 9: 36-38
The Age of Inhumanity
God has tried to send his people the good news of salvation for ages. Moved by the Spirit, prophets and sages and saints in every generation have proclaimed the timeless message of God's love. Their message at its core is always the same. God created each of us for love. He holds all of us together in a vast community of love. His love for us is without end. In eternity he will gather us up and make us a new creation. We will live with him forever in love.
Every age cries out for this comforting message, and ours is no exception. Ours is a hopelessly confused and cynical age. For all the remarkable accomplishments of modern times, we appear to have no idea where we are going. We are truly like sheep without a shepherd.
Ours might well be called the age of inhumanity. The last hundred years have been an unending chronicle of horrific destruction of human life. Today we have an unlimited capacity to destroy life. We are perilously close to disaster. If we do not find our way to God soon, we may well annihilate ourselves. No age has ever had a greater need than ours for laborers for God's word.
When we ask God to send laborers into his harvest, we usually have in mind that he send someone else. But we are his laborers. If we who have been given the gift of faith do not go forth, who will? Very few of us receive a formal calling to ministry, but we are all called to be laborers for Christ. We are called upon to bear witness to our faith through our words and actions in our families, in the workplace, and in our community. Many hands are needed to gather up the abundant harvest of God's love, including ours.
Serran Prayer for Vocations
O God, who will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be converted and live, grant we beseech you, through the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Saint Joseph, her spouse, Blessed Junipero Serra, and all the saints, an increase of laborers for your Church, fellow laborers with Christ to spend and consume themselves for souls through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
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