Yesterday’s gospel ended with Jesus telling his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
God always has a plan. Jesus was telling His closest disciples of great potential and yet a lack of those to do the work of God. So, He tells them to ask God for laborers to accomplish the work, the mission.
Today, we see God’s plan. Jesus described the crowds “… like sheep without a shepherd.” In Ezekiel, this reference is made to the suffering of God’s people due to ineffective and corrupt leaders who did not follow God’s way.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is seen as the shepherd, the one promised in Ezekiel who would come from the line of David and unite God’s people of Israel. The answer to the corrupt leaders of Jesus’ time is to ask God for righteous men to lead the people.
God answers by Jesus’ appointing the Twelve Apostles, the men who will help carry out Jesus’ mission. In this gospel, Matthew highlights Jesus’ authority, which was seen in His teaching, healing, and exorcisms. It is this authority that He gives to the Twelve so that they may preach about the kingdom of heaven, heal every disease and illness, and drive out unclean spirits.
The word “apostle” means “those who are sent,” and an apostle participates in the authority of the one who sent them, Jesus. Each time a priest or deacon is ordained, this text from Matthew is used.
When Jesus called and commissioned the Twelve Apostles, He didn’t pick only one type of man. There is a range of occupations and faith experiences. There is Simon, known for his zeal for the Torah, his national patriotism, and his revolutionary spirit. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Matthew, who had been working with foreign men, oppressing his own Jewish people, to collect taxes for the Roman government. Peter, James, Andrew, and John were all fishermen.
Two of the Twelve, Philip and Andrew, had Greek names, a clue to their families’ openness to the Gentile culture.
Pope Benedict wrote, “Precisely in this wide range of backgrounds, temperaments, and approaches, the Twelve personify the Church of all ages and its difficult task of purifying and unifying these men in their zeal for Jesus Christ.”
Every Cardinal, Bishop, priest, and deacon has received Jesus’ authority to continue His mission in their particular vocation and office. Through apostolic succession, Jesus’ authority has been passed through the centuries so that there are shepherds who continue Jesus’ teaching, healing, and driving out unclean spirits.
We give thanks to God for this pastoral care as we seek to deepen our faith in God’s plan to save all men, women, boys, and girls, and to strengthen our family bonds of faith, hope, and love.
Reverend David S. Marcham is the Vice Postulator for the Cause of Venerable Patrick Peyton, and Director of the Father Peyton Guild, whose members pray for Father Peyton’s beatification and spread his message of the importance of Family Prayer. Prior to becoming a seminarian, Father David was a physical therapist and clinical instructor, serving hospital inpatients and outpatients throughout the greater Boston area for eleven years. In 1998 he heard the call to priesthood and was ordained in the Archdiocese of Boston in 2005. Father David grew up in Quincy, MA, and has fond memories of playing soccer, tennis and running track. You’re never without a friend when Father David is around, as he welcomes everyone into his circle with a smile on his face!
