Jesus is doing what Jesus does: curing the sick and preaching the Good News to eager crowds. He is touching people, healing people, freeing people. While the Pharisees reject Him and accuse Him of being in league with the devil, the throngs of people long for His healing presence; they are “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” And Jesus’ loving heart is “moved with pity for them.” His love longs to shepherd them into the fullness of life, into truth and beauty and goodness, forever.
This aching love of Jesus to heal and free every single person drives Him to all the towns and villages, to teach in their synagogues and proclaim the Good News, and cure “every disease and illness.” There is always more to do, more people to reach, and His time is short.
He reminds His disciples that the people have a deep need, more vast than they can fill, so they must pray for laborers to continue this work. The Church is to be the way this work continues, the continuous presence of Christ the Good Shepherd to His troubled sheep, to all the nations until the end of time. Through the Church, the work of salvation continues through the Sacraments, which are Christ’s way of remaining with us. Through them He touches us and heals us and frees us and draws us into the Family of God, from the very beginning of our life in Christ until the last moments of our lives on this earth. And these Sacraments are ordinarily administered to us through the ministerial priesthood, those chosen and called to be laborers for the harvest in the particular way of Holy Orders.
“The harvest is abundant,” and we must pray for laborers for the harvest – for vocations to the priesthood to continue the work of salvation Jesus entrusted to His Church. But we must not forget that we are all called to work in the Vineyard of the Lord by virtue of our Baptism, when we are cleansed of Original Sin, reborn of water and the Spirit, and then anointed into the Body of the risen Christ, anointed into His mission as priest, prophet, and king. Our baptismal grace calls each of us to the very work of Christ, each laboring for the Kingdom according to our vocation and state in life.
Jesús está haciendo lo que hace Jesús: curar a los enfermos y predicar la Buena Nueva a multitudes entusiastas. Está tocando a las personas, sanando a las personas, liberándolas. Mientras los fariseos lo rechazan y lo acusan de estar en complicidad con el diablo, las multitudes de personas anhelan su presencia sanadora; están “extenuadas y desamparadas, como ovejas sin pastor”. Y el corazón amoroso de Jesús “se compadecía de ellos”. Su amor anhela pastorearlos hacia la plenitud de la vida, hacia la verdad, la belleza y la bondad, para siempre.
Este amor añorador de Jesús por sanar y liberar a cada persona lo impulsa a todos los pueblos y aldeas, a enseñar en sus sinagogas y proclamar la Buena Nueva, y curar “toda enfermedad y dolencia”. Siempre hay más por hacer, más personas a las que llegar, y su tiempo es corto.
Les recuerda a sus discípulos que la gente tiene una necesidad profunda, más vasta de la que pueden satisfacer, por lo que deben orar por trabajadores que continúen esta obra. La Iglesia debe ser el camino para que esta obra continúe, la presencia continua de Cristo, el Buen Pastor, para sus ovejas atribuladas, para todas las naciones hasta el fin de los tiempos. A través de la Iglesia, la obra de salvación continúa mediante los Sacramentos, que son la manera en que Cristo permanece con nosotros. A través de ellos, Él nos toca, nos sana, nos libera y nos atrae hacia la Familia de Dios, desde el comienzo mismo de nuestra vida en Cristo hasta los últimos momentos de nuestra vida en esta tierra. Y estos Sacramentos se nos administran ordinariamente a través del sacerdocio ministerial, aquellos elegidos y llamados a ser obreros para la cosecha en el modo particular del Orden Sagrado.
“La cosecha es mucha”, y debemos orar por obreros para la cosecha, por vocaciones al sacerdocio para continuar la obra de salvación que Jesús confió a su Iglesia. Pero no debemos olvidar que todos estamos llamados a trabajar en la Viña del Señor en virtud de nuestro Bautismo, cuando somos purificados del Pecado Original, renacidos del agua y del Espíritu, y luego somos ungidos en el Cuerpo de Cristo resucitado, ungidos para Su misión de sacerdote, profeta y rey. La gracia bautismal nos llama a cada uno a la obra misma de Cristo, trabajando cada uno por el Reino según nuestra vocación y estado de vida.
Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including Father Rob), and eleven grandchildren. She is President of the local community of Secular Discalced Carmelites and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 30 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio. Currently, she serves the Church by writing and speaking, and by collaborating with various parishes and to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is www.KathrynTherese.com
Feature Image Credit: Josh Applegate, unsplash.com/photos/people-sitting-on-church-pew-inside-church-g0WjhnQRTa8
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Pamela Kavanaugh is a grateful wife, mother, and grandmother who has dedicated her professional life to Catholic education. Though she has done her very best to teach her students well in the subjects of language and religion, she knows that she has learned more than she has taught. She lives, teaches, and writes in southwest suburban Chicago.
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Dr. Alexis Dallara-Marsh is a board-certified neurologist who practices in Bergen County, NJ. She is a wife to her best friend, Akeem, and a mother of four little ones on Earth and two others in heaven above.
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Christine Arata is a San Francisco, California native. She lives a few blocks away from the ocean and a park. She finds nature inspiring. Her cat brings her comfort. She loves being creative not only with her writing but with almost everything, including her home cooking. Her studies in the Catholic faith are ongoing. In 2019, when she discovered St. Hildegard of Bingen was underrepresented by Catholics, she found a purpose. Her latest website, St. Hildegard’s Wisdom features blog posts about all of that: 
Former NPS Park Ranger, Catholic educator, and Youth Minister, Melissa Lucca now spends her days evangelizing family and neighbors as a stay-at-home mom. She holds an MA in Theology from the Augustine Institute and pursues personal study in her spare time. Melissa loves Ignatian Spirituality, Mother Mary, and rock climbing. If you don’t hear her and her kiddo laughing at home, then they are probably out on an adventure!
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Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 55 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty-one grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
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