Gospel: Matthew 9: 32-38
Jesus goes about from town to town in Galilee telling people about the Good News of the Kingdom of God, and he provides cures for people with all sorts of ailments. He does this day in and day out, and he is tired. Jesus needs more people to engage in the work of proclaiming Good News, in healing others of their illnesses, in liberating people from the demons that oppress them, and in providing nourishment to others at table. He begs God that more people will enter the fields to do this work.
Sadly, most of us are about the bad news of the world. We prefer to perseverate on this bad news and to traffic in it. As a result, rather than healing others, or liberating others, or nourishing others, we instead do great harm to other people. We keep them enslaved to the demons of the world. We impoverish and starve people of the nourishment they need to flourish. And all this being done by those who claim the mantle of Jesus' name.
The prayer of Jesus for workers to engage in the harvest is not a prayer for random people to engage in this work. It is a prayer for us all to engage in this work - to put away the bad news and violence of the world and to proclaim Good News, to heal others, to liberate them from the demons of the world, to nourish them in body and soul. It is not for us to recite this prayer of Jesus. It is for us to respond to it ourselves and engage in the work of the kingdom of God.
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