THE HARVEST IS RICH BUT THE LABOURERS ARE FEW
TUESDAY 6th JULY, 2021. MEMORIAL IN HONOUR OF St MARIA GORETTI, Virgin and Martyr.
Born into a poor and devout family near Rome in 1890, Maria had a deep spirit of prayer and worked hard to help her parents.
At the age of 12 she was stabbed to death as she fought off an attack of a rapist. She died forgiving and praying for her assailant, Alexander, who later repented and lived a holy life. Pope Pius XII canonised her in 1950, an event attended by her aged mother and Alexander.
READINGS; GENESIS 32:23-33, PSALMS 17:1-3,6-8,15, MATTHEW 9:32-38.
On several occasions I have sat with different people to discuss this statement of Jesus that “the harvest is rich but the labourers are few”. I have gone to different places and I have never found a place where there are enough labourers to work in the vineyard of the Lord.
I believe that this statement of Jesus will never be satisfied, we will never have a situation where the work will be equal to the labourers.
This is because there are always people who are not doing what they ought to do, we always find people who have stopped praying, stopped working in the vineyard. Even people who know what they ought to do are relaxing or stopped working in the vineyard of the Lord, sometimes we may ask, where is this vineyard of the Lord?
The vineyard is where you are, in your family, in your work place, right there where you are. There is always something to be done but most of us have put our tools down.
We need to ask ourselves when did I last prayed? When did I last preached the goodnews to someone who was in need of it? When did I visit a sick person or one in prison?
I was also asking myself these questions and I discovered that there are moments in which I also stopped praying, there are moments in which I have not been honest, moments in which I have not been forgiving to people.
I have to know that each and every time I stop doing what I ought to do, I am reducing the labour force in the vineyard of the Lord.
We may have been failing to do what we ought to do, there is still a chance, let us ask God to change our names, as he changed the name of Jacob to Israel, meaning a new direction of life, a new mission and may our answers to this new mission of God be Yes and let our Yes be so in our lives. May our lives be a yes to be labourers in the vineyard of the Lord.
LET US PRAY THROUGH INTERCESSION OF St MARIA GORETTI THAT WE MAY BE DEDICATED TO OUR VOCATION.
Pray for me Fra. Evance Amani Msechu, OFMCap and my twin brother Priest, Fra. Prosper A. Kessy, OFMCap on our Fourth anniversary of Priestly Ministry 6 July.
May the 5th year we are beginning be fruitful for touching hearts and transforming lives.
