From: Matthew 9:32-38

The Dumb Devil

[32] As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to Him
(Jesus). [33] And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke;
and the crowds marvelled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”
[34] But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

The Need for Good Shepherds

[35] And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues
and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every
infirmity. [36] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because
they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He
said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] pray
therefore the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

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Commentary:

35. The Second Vatican Council uses this passage when teaching about the
message of Christian charity which the Church should always be spreading:
“Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of race, social condition
or religion, and seeks neither gain nor gratitude. Just as God loves us with a
gratuitous love, so too the faithful, in their charity, should be concerned for man-
kind, loving it with that same love with which God sought man. As Christ went
about all the towns and villages healing every sickness and infirmity, as a sign
that the Kingdom of God had come, so the Church, through its children, joins it-
self with men of every condition, but especially with the poor and afflicted, and
willingly spends herself for them” (”Ad Gentes”, 12).

36. “He had compassion for them”: the Greek verb is very expressive; it means
“He was deeply moved”. Jesus was moved when He saw the people, because
their pastors, instead of guiding them and tending them, led them astray, beha-
ving more like wolves than genuine shepherds of their flock. Jesus sees the
prophecy of Ezekiel 34 as now being fulfilled; in that passage God, through the
prophet, upbraids the false shepherds of Israel and promises to send them the
Messiah to be their new leader.

“If we were consistent with our faith when we looked around us and contemplated
the world and its history, we would be unable to avoid feeling in our own hearts
the same sentiments that filled the heart of our Lord” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is
Passing By”, 133). Reflection on the spiritual needs of the world should lead us
to be tirelessly apostolic.

37-38. After contemplating the crowds neglected by their shepherds, Jesus uses
the image of the harvest to show us that that same crowd is ready to receive the
effects of Redemption: “I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see now the fields are
already white for harvest” (John 4:35). The field of the Jewish people cultivated
by the prophets—most recently by John the Baptist—is full of ripe wheat. In farm
work, the harvest is lost if the farmer does not reap at the right time; down the
centuries the Church feels a similar need to be out harvesting because there is
a big harvest ready to be won.

However, as in the time of Jesus, there is a shortage of laborers. Our Lord tells
us how to deal with this: we should pray to God, the Lord of harvest, to send the
necessary laborers. If a Christian prays hard, it is difficult to imagine his not fee-
ling urged to play his part in this apostolate. In obeying this commandment to
pray for laborers, we should pray especially for there to be no lack of shepherds,
who will be able to equip others with the necessary means of sanctification
needed to back up the apostolate.

In this connection [Pope] Paul VI reminds us: “the responsibility for spreading
the Gospel that saves belongs to everyone—to all who have received it! The mis-
sionary duty concerns the whole body of the Church; in different ways and to
different degrees, it is true, but we must all of us be united in carrying out this
duty. Now let the conscience of every believer ask himself: Have I carried out
my missionary duty? Prayer for the Missions is the first way of fulfilling this
duty” (”Angelus Address”, 23 October 1977).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Genesis 32:23-33 ©

Jacob rose, and taking his two wives and his two slave-girls and his eleven children he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream and sent all his possessions over too. And Jacob was left alone.

And there was one that wrestled with him until daybreak who, seeing that he could not master him, struck him in the socket of his hip, and Jacob’s hip was dislocated as he wrestled with him. He said, ‘Let me go, for day is breaking.’ But Jacob answered, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ He then asked, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob’, he replied. He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have been strong against God, you shall prevail against men.’ Jacob then made this request, ‘I beg you, tell me your name’, but he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there.

Jacob named the place Peniel, ‘Because I have seen God face to face,’ he said ‘and I have survived.’ The sun rose as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip. That is the reason why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sciatic nerve which is in the socket of the hip; because he had struck Jacob in the socket of the hip on the sciatic nerve.

Psalm	Psalm 16:1-3,6-8

Gospel	Matthew 9:32-37 ©

A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.

And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’