The harvest is rich. So get in there.

2022 14^th Sunday of the Year ( C )

“The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.” Traditionally these words have been understood to refer to priests; that we should pray for more priests. I would not disagree with this but I would add that the words of Jesus are not confined to priests; that the labourers Jesus is referring to do not have to be wearing roman collars; they are lay men and women like you. 

I grew up in the 1950’s and 1960’s, when the Church was strong. Seminaries were filled with young men studying to be priests. Our churches were packed, so much so that it was common for there to be standing room only. Many parishes had three or four priests besides the parish priest. Today, much has changed.  Most parishes now have just one priest, who often looks after two or three parishes. The number of vocations has declined dramtically and our seminaries are far from full. Indeed, the seminary I studied in has had to close for lack of vocations. Time doesn’t allow to go into the reasons for this decline, suffice to say it is the reality we face today. Can it be that Christ’s words, to send labourers into the harvest, are no longer applicable?  Or, could it be that the modern generation has lost faith?  I don’t think so. 

Since I was a child there has been a quiet revolution in the Church.  Over the last six decades I have seen many changes, particularly the involvement of laity in the Church. Before it was unheard of for a layperson to step onto the sanctuary; only altar boys and priests could do so. But look what has happened: now we have men and women who come onto the sanctuary and read. We have men and women who help the priest distribute communion, and then take it to the sick and housebound. Men and women who help prepare children for baptism, first holy communion and confirmation. What changes have taken place in these past decades.  

Do not underestimate the significance of the Synod on Synodality which is to take place next year in Rome. I realize that most people know little or nothing about it, but you will. It may take a generation or two but the church will look different in the future. It will still be the same church of course, but with a difference. We will see even more involvement of the laity in its ministry. And the key to all this is a deeper understanding of our baptism. 

It has been my experience that many Catholics still do not appreciate the significance of their baptism. Those who do are already labouring in the harvest.  They have understood that on the day of their baptism they were made sharers in Christ’s own ministry, that they are called to be his disciples to work in and for the Church. Of course priests have a special ministry but it is within the ministry that everyone receives in baptism.  So when Christ asks us to pray for labourers, he is not just talking about priests, but about all who are baptised. The harvest is still rich today. The Church needs you to work in it. Who knows, maybe the shortage of vocations and priests is providential: so that it becomes more obvious that the Church needs you to go out into the harvest.