Dec. 3, 2022 – Matthew 9:35-10:1,6-8
Jesus is an itinerant teacher, teaching in synagogues throughout the region, proclaiming the Good News of the coming kingdom of God among them and healing all those who are sick in body and spirit. In this Gospel passage, Matthew shows Jesus’ deep compassion for all those who are troubled and depressed, people without direction in their lives and who are like sheep without a shepherd.
Then, Jesus, tells his disciples, pointing to the crowd around them that it was similar to a huge harvest waiting to be reaped, but that there were only very few people available to work in the harvest field. Therefore, he conveys to the Twelve the power to deliver people from the dominion of evil and to heal all kinds of diseases.
The harvest is still great and the need for laborers is greater than ever. In asking the Lord to send workers into the harvest, we must, first of all, ask ourselves what is the role of each of us. It is not just a question of priests and religious. Jesus was speaking not only to priests and religious,
but to each one of his followers – to each one of us who has been baptized. Each one of us is called to be a reaper. Each of us can reach a corner of the harvest field that is not accessible to anyone else. That part of the field may include my family, my neighbors, my co-workers and other people who come into my life. I may be the only person who can bring Jesus into their lives and, through Him, compassion and healing.
And what are we to do? Let people know that the Kingdom of God is very near, because God Himself and Jesus know One and the same thing. Once we say yes to God and His Son, they become part of our lives and we can do the same things commanded to His disciples: Heal the sick: with our sympathy and support we can often do more than any medical treatment.
Raise the dead: clearly not literally. We can help restore lives worth living to those who are intellectually, emotionally and socially dead but physically alive.
Cleansing lepers: we can heal, by making them feel accepted and loved by God, all those people we usually neglect, ignore, despise, reject, shun because they live on the margins of society, because of addictions (drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc.) or because they are the homeless, single mothers, “sex workers,” etc.
Casting out demons: giving people help so they can free themselves from the demons of fear, anger, hatred, violence, drugs, alcohol, nicotine, sexual abuse (themselves and others), greed for money…
P Joby Kavungal RCJ