Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- The Abundant Harvest

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 7.11.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot
Matthew 9:32–38

Friends, today the Lord directs his disciples to ask the Father
to send laborers for the work of evangelization.
The Christian life is lived in between these two imperatives:
conversion and mission.

Having been seized by the beauty of revelation,
our only proper response is a change of life and a commitment
to become a missionary on behalf of what we have seen.
In the scriptural tradition, no vision or experience of God
is ever given simply for the edification of the visionary;
rather, it is given for the sake of mission.
No biblical figure is ever given an experience of God
without receiving a commission.

Moses spies the burning bush, hears the sacred name of Yahweh,
and is then told to go back to Egypt to liberate his people;
Isaiah enjoys a mystical encounter with God amidst the splendor of the temple liturgy
and is then sent to preach;
Saul is overwhelmed by the luminosity of the risen Jesus and is subsequently called to apostleship.
As theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar says,
“The beautiful stops the viewer in his tracks
and then plants within him a desire to speak to others of what he has seen.”

[MurphsLaw]

+++A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
"Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
But the Pharisees said,
"He drives out demons by the prince of demons."

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds,
his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."+++