Help Wanted!

This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable.  It has not been verified by the author.

“When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion for them. Because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  Jesus in the Gospel today is asking us to look at the crowds today and see the situation they’re in like sheep without a shepherd, wanting us to see the need of all the crowds, all the people living today. He says, “The harvest is plentiful,” list is plentiful, that Jesus uses huge harvest that needs to be done. There’s very few laborers. So it’s surprising what he says next, it’s kind of surprising. You might expect Him to say, so get busy. Go get started harvesting. But that’s not what He says. Remember what He says. “So the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So ask the master of the harvest, to send laborers to his vineyard.” So He doesn’t just say, get busy and do it. He says, ask the master of the harvest to send laborers. Why? Well, one thing it seems like He wants us to recognize that only God can give the grace to do this harvest. It’s not just a human effort that’s needed. It needs to be the grace and the mission of God. He says, again, He doesn’t just say go do it. He says, “Ask the master of the harvest to send.” So the grace, the mission has to come from God. But He also seems to be saying that our prayers, and our sacrifice can be a part of this. And so the importance of praying for these vocations. And as we do this as we pray, Lord, send the harvesters, send laborers to your vineyard. That also makes us aware of what can be my role for the harvest. And there’s different ways there’s different roles that are needed. We have the example of today, of the apostles. The Gospel focuses on the apostles because He’s speaking to the apostles. And so they represent both the sacred ministers of the Church, the bishops, and priests and deacons. And the deacons represent especially, well the priesthood of all the sacred ministers, and also, they represent consecrated life. And both there’s a desperate need in the Church, for all of those sacred ministers and consecrated men and women. But there’s also other vocations, other ways of responding. And I want to look at a few of those. One is, this comes from St. Faustina. She said, “One evening, I saw the Lord Jesus.” So she had a number of visions of the Lord, but how did she see him this time? She says, “I saw the Lord Jesus, upon the cross,” so seeing Jesus crucified, Jesus living but crucified, “from His hands, His feet and side, the most sacred blood was flowing.” So He’s still living, the blood is still flowing out of Him. What would it be like to see Jesus on the cross? What would it be like if you had that experience of Jesus appearing to you dying on the cross. So no longer just crucified, an image of the crucifix, a crucifix made out of some material. Jesus crucified they’re in front of you, right in front of you, right in front of you, not from a distance but right in front of you. And so this lasted for a certain time. And then He, then He spoke to her. And He said from the  cross, He said, “all this is for the salvation of souls. Consider well, my daughter, what you are doing for their salvation.” So Jesus is offering His life and torture for the salvation of souls. And then He says, “Consider what you are doing.” And so each one of us can hear those words directed to you personally. Consider what you are doing. In front of Jesus crucified, who’s dying for the salvation of souls who’s suffering for the salvation of souls. What are you doing for the salvation of souls? I think, you know, they talk about a bucket list. People have a bucket list of things they want to do before they die. Where in the bucket list is the salvation of souls? What on our projects do we have? Where’s salvation of souls on our project list, on our to do lists?  Well, we don’t have time for that, because we have more important things to do, right? Is there anything more important than working for the salvation of souls? And we often forget that. That’s what Jesus is talking about when He looks at the crowds. He’s looking at the need for saving souls. St. Faustina responded, “Lord, when I look at your suffering, I see that I am doing next to nothing for the salvation of souls.” Compared to what He is doing. She says she’s doing next to nothing. And so again, it’s good for us to see what, what are the priorities of my life? How important is saving souls in the priorities of my life. Because we often get what we often are focused on, maybe sometimes just our own happiness, that our own happiness is never, will never be full in this earth. That the Lord is asking us to work for the salvation of souls. But then, here’s how Jesus responds to St. Faustina when she says, I feel like I’m doing next to nothing. His response is very different. He says, “Know, my daughter, that your silent day to day martyrdom, and complete submission to my will ushers many souls into heaven.” So He’s saying that though she feels like she’s doing next to nothing, He’s saying, because He sees the fullness of truth, He’s saying, actually, you’re ushering many souls into heaven. You’re not just helping a soul. This is many souls and you’re not just helping them. You’re ushering them into heaven. So St. Faustina has actually been extremely effective in saving souls. And so what is she doing? He says, you’re silent, day to day martyrdom.  So St. Faustina is still living when Jesus is saying your martyrdom. And in fact, she’s not recognized in the Church as a martyr because she died of natural causes. And yet, Jesus is speaking of her martyrdom, He says, “A silent martyrdom.” That is it’s not a martyrdom, which is dramatic. It’s a martyrdom which is hidden, which is not recognized. Probably she herself didn’t recognize her own martyrdom. But if anybody knows what a martyrdom is, it’s Jesus. And Jesus, and for him, He doesn’t use that word lightly. And He’s saying that He’s speaking of her martyrdom, but a silent martyrdom, as I say, hidden martyrdom, and He says it’s also a day to day martyrdom. I remember somebody saying, I don’t think I could ever be a saint. Except maybe I could be a martyr , if they killed me quickly. But this is not a quick martyrdom, and you know how many cases has that happened, maybe somebody, maybe they were not perfect, but the Lord gave them the grace in a moment of heroism to die as a martyr. How many? How many martyrs have received that grace. But her martyrdom is not. It’s not brief. It’s day to day. That is, it’s long and drawn out. Kind of like, you know, like maybe like a Chinese water torture type. That is the martyrdom of a long drawn out day to day fidelity, which in some ways might be much more difficult than one dramatic moment. Your silent day to day martyrdom. And so Jesus is saying that she is really living a martyrdom, and a martyrdom. And I bet there’s people here in this chapel that the Lord could say those words about. And He says, your silent day to day martyrdom, and then it gives the essential condition. This is the key, He says, in complete submission to My will. That’s the key – in complete submission to My will. Your silent day to day martyrdom, in complete submission to My will, is ushering many souls into heaven. And even if St. Faustina herself, doesn’t think of herself as a martyr, and she doesn’t see the fruits of what’s happening. That’s why the Lord is revealing it to her, that in His eyes, that is in His eyes, that means in truth, she is a martyr, and she’s living this martyr over all this period. And that martyrdom is ushering many souls into heaven. And then He goes on to say, “and when it seems to you, that your suffering exceeds your strength, if it feels like too much,” what does He say to do? He says, “contemplate my wounds.” And that’s what He’s given her, the opportunity to do that at that point, right? Because she’s seeing Jesus on the cross. Contemplate my wounds. And what will that do? He says, “in your rise above human scorn and judgment.” So she is suffering from human scorn and judgment. And that’s probably part of her martyrdom, human scorn and judgment that he says, contemplating my wounds.  What I think, He means not just His physical wounds, but we just had the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the Sacred Heart, the wounds of the Sacred Heart, represents not just wounds to the physical organ, but it represents all the wounds to Jesus’ Heart, heart in the deepest sense. Meditation on My passio, will help you rise above all things. So that’s why He’s inviting meditation on His passion. Not because He’s a narcissist, but because He wants to help strengthen her for the suffering that she is undergoing. So that’s an example, another example of working in the harvest, Saint Faustina was doing by living her silent day to day martyrdom in submission to God’s will. And I want to give two more examples. We think of our Blessed Mother, we have her beautiful image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Because our Blessed Mother, of course, she was not an apostle, the apostles went to preach, and heal, and work miracles and cast out demons. But the gospel doesn’t show Mary ever preaching or healing or casting out demons, working miracles. And yet, but what was she doing? That the central thing that Mary was doing, was living as Jesus said, in complete submission, to God’s will, and especially by her union, with Jesus. Especially by her union with Jesus living in many ways, a simple life. Most of her life was a simple life as a as a young girl and then a mother, a wife and a mother. Living a very simple life exteriorly as a wife and mother, but faithful to God’s will, she did more than anyone else for the triumph of Jesus kingdom, and inspiring the early Church of the apostles and continuing to inspire, and bless the Church today, continuing from heaven. And so Mary is an example of a very different way of working in the working for the harvest of the Lord for the salvation of souls. And today, on this Father’s Day, here in this chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, we think of St. Joseph. St. Joseph wasn’t involved in what we call ministry at all. He had already passed from this life when Jesus finally began, the short period of His apostolic life. So St. Joseph as a husband, and with the role of a father, not again, involved in ministry, but doing the simple work of a carpenter. And yet he had an irreplaceable role for the spread of the kingdom and for the harvest. St. John Paul wrote a whole encyclical on St. Joseph. And in it, he says, “St. Joseph, to whose custody God entrusted His greatest and most precious treasures, His Son, Jesus, and the mother of His son.” So St. Joseph was the guardian. To him was entrusted the greatest treasures of the Lord, and has become the patron of the universal Church, continues to be the patron of the universal Church. And a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about the Trinity, and how men and women are called to express this love of God and as Mother Magdalene was saying, at the beginning of Mass, how fathers are called to express and represent the love of God Himself, our Father. So what do all these different examples have in common? In all of them, it’s complete submission to the Father’s will, what the Father’s Will is for the apostles, what the Father’s Will was for St. Faustina, in your silent day to day martyrdom, what the Father’s Will was for Mary, as a wife and mother, what the Father’s will was for St. Joseph, as a husband, as a father, as a worker. And so examples so that can help you discover what is the unique way that God is calling you to work for the salvation of souls for His harvest. And so the Mass that we’re celebrating right now, is an opportunity to bring all the needs, all the needs of this great harvest, all the needs of the souls because that’s what the harvest Jesus is talking about, is this harvest of salvation of souls. So we’re not here just for ourselves, we’re here for all those who need His help, His saving help. And so in this Mass, we can pray for vocations. And as we pray for vocations, it’s also the opportunity for each one of us to seek what is God’s will for me in this great work of saving souls. And what we can do also right now during this Mass is to offer our work, our prayers, our sacrifices, maybe our silent day to day martyrdom, for the salvation of souls.  Amen.

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
Matthew 9:36-10:8
Salvation of Souls