From: Matthew 9:32-38

The Dumb Devil

[32] As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to him [Je-
sus]. [33] And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the
crowds marvelled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” [34] But
the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

The Need for Good Shepherds

[35] And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues
and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every
infirmity. [36] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because
they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He
said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] pray
therefore the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

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Commentary:

35. The Second Vatican Council uses this passage when teaching about the
message of Christian charity which the Church should always be spreading:
“Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of race, social condition
or religion, and seeks neither gain nor gratitude. Just as God loves us with a gra-
tuitous love, so too the faithful, in their charity, should be concerned for mankind,
loving it with that same love with which God sought man. As Christ went about
all the towns and villages healing every sickness and infirmity, as a sign that the
Kingdom of God had come, so the Church, through its children, joins itself with
men of every condition, but especially with the poor and afflicted, and willingly
spends herself for them” (”Ad Gentes”, 12).

36. “He had compassion for them”: the Greek verb is very expressive; it means
“He was deeply moved”. Jesus was moved when He saw the people, because
their pastors, instead of guiding them and tending them, led them astray, beha-
ving more like wolves than genuine shepherds of their flock. Jesus sees the pro-
phecy of Ezekiel 34 as now being fulfilled; in that passage God, through the pro-
phet, upbraids the false shepherds of Israel and promises to send them the Mes-
siah to be their new leader.

“If we were consistent with our faith when we looked around us and contemplated
the world and its history, we would be unable to avoid feeling in our own hearts
the same sentiments that filled the heart of our Lord” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is
Passing By”, 133). Reflection on the spiritual needs of the world should lead us
to be tirelessly apostolic.

37-38. After contemplating the crowds neglected by their shepherds, Jesus uses
the image of the harvest to show us that that same crowd is ready to receive the
effects of Redemption: “I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see now the fields are al-
ready white for harvest” (John 4:35). The field of the Jewish people cultivated by
the prophets—most recently by John the Baptist—is full of ripe wheat. In farm work,
the harvest is lost if the farmer does not reap at the right time; down the centuries
the Church feels a similar need to be out harvesting because there is a big har-
vest ready to be won.

However, as in the time of Jesus, there is a shortage of laborers. Our Lord tells
us how to deal with this: we should pray to God, the Lord of harvest, to send the
necessary laborers. If a Christian prays hard, it is difficult to imagine his not fee-
ling urged to play his part in this apostolate. In obeying this commandment to
pray for laborers, we should pray especially for there to be no lack of shepherds,
who will be able to equip others with the necessary means of sanctification nee-
ded to back up the apostolate.

In this connection Paul VI reminds us: “the responsibility for spreading the Gos-
pel that saves belongs to everyone—to all who have received it! The missionary
duty concerns the whole body of the Church; in different ways and to different de-
grees, it is true, but we must all of us be united in carrying out this duty. Now let
the conscience of every believer ask himself: Have I carried out my missionary
duty? Prayer for the Missions is the first way of fulfilling this duty” (”Angelus Ad-
dress”, 23 October 1977).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

Hosea 8:4-7,11-13 ©

Thus says the Lord:

They have set up kings, but not with my consent,

and appointed princes, but without my knowledge.

Out of their own silver and gold they have made idols,

which are doomed to destruction.

I spurn your calf, Samaria,

my anger blazes against it.

(How long will it be before they purge themselves of this,

the sons of Israel?)

A workman made the thing,

this cannot be God!

Yes, the calf of Samaria shall go up in flames.

They sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind;

their wheat will yield no ear,

the ear will yield no flour,

or, if it does, foreigners will swallow it.

Ephraim has built altar after altar,

they have only served him as occasion for sin.

Were I to write out the thousand precepts of my Law for him,

they would be paid no more attention than those of a stranger.

They love sacrificing; right, let them sacrifice!

They love meat; right, let them eat it!

The Lord takes no pleasure in these.

He is now going to remember their iniquity

and punish their sins;

they will have to go back to Egypt.

Psalm

Psalm 113B:3-10 ©