Homilies

14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: MESSENGERS OF PEACE, HOPE AND RECONCILIATION

JESUS APPOINTED SEVENTY-TWO apostles and sent them ahead of him to the places he intended to visit. These disciples, who were sent in pairs, brought with them the message of peace and preached the kingdom of God.

First, in his exhortation, Jesus told his disciples about the importance and urgency of their mission: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” This is more especially true these days, citing the fact that the Church experiences a dwindling number of vocations, both in the priesthood and religious life. There are many reasons or causes to this phenomenon, and secularism is one. The work of mission now has become ever more challenging and more complicated. In the old days, the Word of God had been easily preached, and easily received by the recipients. Conversions to Christianity were in great numbers. But today preachers and missionaries are all the more challenged by the different attitudes of listeners. Missionaries need to prove how important the Word and Christ to peoples’ lives. Christ and his Word should appeal and appear as appealing to the people.

Second, Jesus added further to “ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”  With the dwindling number of vocations as our backdrop, we indeed need a collective act in order to help alleviate the vocational crisis. The faithful should be involved in these by praying for more vocations. In other countries, some dioceses have hired lay people to administer the parishes. But certainly there is a limit of the work because of their inability to administer the sacraments and other pastoral work. In his message for the Year for Priests, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, emphasized that this move does not answer to the present problem or crisis of vocation. It is not the solution, in other words. We must keep our faith and let us continue to pray for more vocations.

Third, all people are asked by the Lord to take part in the work of mission. Mission work remains urgent because it is the will of God that all people would be saved and come to know his truth. The Church has its own missionaries whose life is being offered for the sake of mission. They underwent special formation and training before they could be sent to places outside the country. Indeed, the missionaries of today are considered to be messengers of hope, peace and reconciliation, as the Pope said. But how about the faithful, how can they be relevant missionaries in our midst? They can also follow the exhortation of the Lord to bring peace wherever they go.

The lay faithful can also take part in this work by bringing the same message of peace, hope and reconciliation to their family or to the community where they belong. As one priest said, there is no need for a special training or education for this work. What is required is the faithful’s mature faith through which the goodness of God radiates and is seen in their life. In our age where more people are often at odds with each other, they can bring peace to them. In today’s world where more people doubt the existence and goodness of God, where more people are confused and dejected, the mature lay faithful can become light for this people and become messengers of hope for them.

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