THE WORD
Is 30: 19–21.23–26 / Mt 9: 35–10: 1.6–8
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.Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
“Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
IN OTHER WORDS
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” This is the call of the Lord in this first week of Advent and indeed the call is getting more urgent in our time. I was sent here in Botswana 8 years ago and until now the local clergy are still few. Divine Word Missionaries have been here for more than 30 years already. It is the vision of our congregation to help the local church while their personnel and other resources are still inadequate. We can only pray that some of our young people here will accept the challenge. But considering the situation in Botswana where the Catholic population is less than 10% of a 2-million population, we really need to pray hard.
Being in foreign mission makes me realize that indeed the harvest is abundant. Just recently, our congregation opened a new mission in South Sudan. Undoubtedly, there’s a need for laborers in the Lord’s vineyard especially here in Africa. I remember my first attraction to the African mission. It was the time when I was discerning what to do with my life. I was still a primary school teacher when I saw a poster of African children. Some of the children looked sickly and really needed help. I felt pity for them. The caption on the poster caught my attention. It said, “You want to help them but you feel so small that you don’t know how? Then join us and we shall do it together!” And I did.
The first part of the gospel today speaks about Jesus feeling pity for the people of God because they are like sheep without a shepherd, and then he asks his disciples to pray that the master of the harvest will send out laborers for his harvest. This is also how the Lord called me. He made me see the need. He moved my heart with pity. He asked me to pray for laborers in his vineyard. And then he called me to be one of them. How about you?
- Fr. Ariel Tampus, SVD (Botswana, Africa)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
