At the back of almost every parish is the seminarian poster, which has a picture of all the seminarians for the diocese. – Often, there is a scripture quote about vocations on the poster. On one poster, the little scripture verse was “The harvest is abundant, but the labors are few.”
We need priests – we need to pray for priests – after all, there is much work and ministry to do it, and the number of priests are few. -Encourage young men to consider the priesthood – support your priests and seminarians – Pray for more vocations – “Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” This is indeed one way to understand this teaching from Christ – and it is a good one - But is that all there is to this passage?
For what did Jesus do after saying that the labors are few? He sends out the disciples – those that will preach boldly – to bring the gospel to the corners of the earth. – It is easy to look at them and say – that is not me – I cannot do that – after all – I have responsibilities here.
But who are the disciples at this point? This is not St Peter boldly preaching at Pentecost after receiving the Holy Spirit – it is not yet Peter, the first Bishop of Rome – It is not yet even the Peter who declared that Christ is the Messiah and the Son of God – Peter to whom Christ gave the keys of the kingdom - It is the Peter who would still deny Jesus three times before the crucifixion. Peter does not yet understand – he is busy making a fool of himself.
At this point in Jesus’ Ministry, Christ had not yet sent the Holy Spirit – he had not yet ascended to the Father – He had not risen from the dead as he had not yet been crucified. – St Paul will preach Christ crucified – but there is no crucifixion to be preached yet - at this point, the disciples are preaching the forgiveness of sins – for look at the miracles Christ has done – the kingdom of God has come – but it has not yet fully clear how or why or what will happen next. The disciples go out not fully understanding what they are preaching – but Christ sends them anyway. They have no degrees or certificates. No formal theology education.
And while Jesus only sends out the 12 disciples this time, he does send more on other occasions – such as the sending of the 72. While priests and religious may and a particular role to play in the Church and evangelization – the laity also play an essential role –Send workers into the harvest – it is not just priests and religious – in different ways, it is in the whole Church.
And where did Christ send the disciples? “The lost sheep of the house of Israel” – The Church is to proclaim the gospel to the world – The great commission – but before he does that – he sends the disciples to the lost sheep of Israel – indeed, evangelization today starts with the lost within our own pews. – It is not hard to find someone in need of evangelization – they are our families – friends – coworkers – neighbors – ourselves – many who have been baptized but drifted away from the faith. – In our daily worlds, they are there – the lost sheep – and in many ways, a priest cannot reach them – I walk in with the collar, and the defenses go up.
And this does not need to be complicated – it can be as simple as showing how critical Mass is– When someone asks what we did last weekend – do we say we went to Mass? – or just say we did nothing? – When someone asks us if we are free for breakfast – do we work to make Sunday morning free – or do we say we are unavailed – we are going to Mass – But if you want to come with me, we can go for breakfast afterward. When family visits – Come to Mass anyway – ask if they want to come – you never know the answer. And when someone asks what our kids are doing this summer – do not just say some camp – but Totus Tuus – going to Mass daily.
Beyond the simple – there are other ways to evangelize – even without leaving the parish - One example is Totus Tuus – College missionaries – and one seminarian - but none are priests – and none have completed a formal degree in theology, at least not yet – and they may not be going to the far-flung corners of the world - – yet here is evangelizing – passing on the faith to the children of the parish – grades 1-8 during the day – high schoolers at night – teaching – leading – children around the diocese to Christ. – and it is not just them – how do we support Totus Tuus missionaries? Some provide housing for them to have a place to sleep. Others have them over for dinner. Others are providing cookies for the camp – and the whole parish – we pray for them – After all, Totus Tuus runs on prayer and cookies.
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” – This is about more than vocations – and about more than just priests. We Pray for Priests – and rightfully so – we need priests - there is work that only a priest can do – but the laity has a role in evangelization – The Second Vatican Council stressed the importance of the laity’s role in the apostolate– in our ways, in our own world and lives – do sit in our corner, staying silent – or do we announce the kingdom of God? That “‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”