December 5, 2009
Saturday of the First Week of Advent
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, no more will you weep; He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you. The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher. Isaiah 30:19-20
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." Matthew 9:36-38
Piety
Prayer in Memory of Archbishop Romero (By Bishop Ken Untener)
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen.
Study
Earlier this week, we marked the memorial of St. Francis Xavier, a member of the Jesuit community founded by St. Ignatius Loyola. (Note: I am skipping over the fact that two members of the same community both achieved sainthood. Contemplating that fact alone is more than Your Daily Tripod can reflect upon in one day. Think about that possibility now!? Amazing! Two men, sharing similar experiences and writing to each other both end up canonized.)
Francis is the patron saint of missionaries. He was among the first of the Jesuits to become a missionary. After joining the Jesuits, Francis was sent to the Far East (India, Japan, etc.) to preach the Good News. Even in his life, he needed a shepherd to point him in the right direction. Then, for a dozen years, he converted Asian people to the Catholic faith. Today, other missionaries are in his place. Even Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her Missionaries of Charity walk in some of the same places where St. Francis Xavier paved the way. "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."
Not only do we remember in joy the seminal work that St. Francis, but also this week marked the 29th anniversary of Sr. Maura Clarke, Sr. Ita Ford, Sr. Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan being murdered by their fellow Baptized Catholics and Christians in El Salvador. After working in Nicaragua for 17 years, Sr. Maura responded to a call by the late Archbishop Oscar Romero for help in El Salvador. She and her friends took up their tasks in the harvest of souls.
Their beaten, raped and murdered bodies were found on the morning of the Memorial of St. Francis Xavier by some of the people to whom they ministered.
The work that they did in the Americas and the work St. Francis began in the Far East continue. Much remains to be done to build the kingdom of God. However, the Good Shepherd will provide. However, we must remember in our prayers to ask him to continue to send laborers into the fields. "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."
Action
Maybe we are not called to be like Francis and Mother Teresa and leave behind everything. However, we are called to support those who do that work today and remember their cause. In this Advent season, support those people working in your favorite mission or your sister parish overseas as they prepare the way for the Lord to enter into these foreign lands.
