Eleventh Sunday In Ordinary Time

In the first reading, God makes a covenant with this people Israel that he would stand by them and they would be his people. To enjoy the promises as a priestly kingdom and a holy nation, they would have to be faithful to the demands of the covenant. Here God is determined to be in relationship with his people. He liberated them from slavery and makes them his chosen people. Do you see yourself as chosen by God out of his boundless love? Do you see him calling you into a special relationship with him, to be an heir of his kingdom and live in a relationship of covenant and promise with him? How do we respond to this invitation? St. Paul gives us the message of hope that God gives grace since we have been reconciled by the death of his son. We are in turn saved by the life of his Son. Our movement from sadness to joy, pain to healing, darkness to light, and death to life is rooted in our baptism into Christ. From his first words that are recorded in the Bible, Jesus came to preach the kingdom of God. He chose the Apostles and sent them to expand the horizon of this message through their preaching. The word ‘apostle’ means ‘a person that has been sent.’ They were sent to proclaim the Good News that God loves everyone. Today, Jesus entrusts the same mission to all of us. God sends us as missionaries to our people to transmit this message. In this way we participate in the mission of the Church. Each of us, and not only the priests and religious, is a part of the instrument of love and goodness made manifest in Jesus. As the Church works to transform the world, we become the means through which it is achieved. Our lives attract people to the Good News when they see the joys of the kingdom in the way we practise the faith. People must see what the Lord has done in our lives. We must live the Gospel, not merely talk about it. How often do we talk about the faith with our children, family, friends, neighbours and even strangers? Do we live out what we talk about? ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to his harvest.’ There are many people searching for the truth, searching for the meaning of life. These are people convinced that there is more to life than money, television, internet, and parties. These people need workers for the kingdom: all of us! Everyone can do something to gather the harvest. Yet there are few involved actively involved in preaching the word. This is because we are not praying regularly to God. We must ask him to touch the hearts of young people to embrace the vocation to the priesthood and religious life. We must pray regularly to God asking him to touch the hearts of families to promote and support the spread of the Gospel through prayer, financial aid and every other possible means. Families must once more become seed beds for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. We need to talk with our children about ministry as a possible choice of life. Families need to include the prayers for vocations to their daily prayer schedule. We need to pray for God’s help. God is the source of our Christian mission. We must go to him if we want to be effective preachers of the Good News. We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit if we want to choose the right co-workers. Each of us needs to open up to the possibility of committing our lives to God.