(Homily
for October 5, 2017).
Our Gospel passage this morning
recalls the very popular phrase of Jesus: “The harvest is plentiful, but the
labourers are few.” Why is there such an imbalance? And believe it or not, from
the time of Jesus up till this day, the labourers have never really been enough
for the ever abundant harvest.
Those who find themselves embracing
the work of God are always overwhelmed with too much to do even to the point of
mental exhaustion, fatigue, burn-out and even depression. Sometimes, those who
get to do God’s work get too busy with the work of God that they forget the God
of the work. Why should this be the case?
I have come to the conclusion that
the reason why there are so few labourers is not because God does not like to
call people but there are so many labourers who have been called already but
still do not even know they are labourers. To put it simply, we all are
labourers in the house of God but we tend to make the terrible mistake of assuming
God’s word is strictly for the ordained ministers or professed religious.
To copy words from Monsignor
Nwaezeapu’s homily at the recent priestly and diaconate ordination in Lagos, “many
of us are merely sacramentalized, but are not properly evangelized or converted
even at the most fundamental level. The overwhelming majority of our lay
faithful do not have the culture of sharing the Gospel. They still believe that
the work of evangelization is the business of the Clergy and the Religious.
“In a study in the U.S., in response
to the Question: Is spreading the Gospel a priority for your Church? 76% of the
Protestants answered Yes; 57% of the African American Churches answered Yes;
but only 6% of Catholics saw the spreading of the Gospel as a priority.
“The vast majority of the Societies
and Groups in our Church are not mission-conscious. Ask them how many
non-Christians or non-Catholics or former Catholics they bring into the Church
every year and you will be amazed that it is zero, perhaps, with the exception
of the Legionaries and the Charismatics. Yet, the first sign of a spiritually
healthy Church or society is its ability to go out on mission…
“All Catholics have charisms (the
spiritual gifts) the Holy Spirit bestowed on us during Baptism and Confirmation
for the building up of the Church, but sadly, over 90% of us do not even know
this and do not use these gifts, to the detriment of the Church’s mission and
growth. Worse still, many have gone to their graves carrying these used gifts
with them.”
Do not go to your grave carrying your
gift with you. The fact that you are not a priest or sister does not mean you
are not a labourer in God’s vineyard. The truth is that if only you begin to
explore and use your gift, you may end up winning more souls and doing more for
God than those who are ordained. Yes. This is the truth.
In our first reading this morning, we
see how the people were touched when they heard the word of God read to them by
Ezra the priest. But the fact is that this reading of the book of the Law would
not have been possible without the assistance/cooperation of Nehemiah the
governor.
Just imagine how much good you would
do as a Governor, a commissioner, a minister when you are committed to
spreading the word of God? Why is that Christians in government do not even
care about promoting their faith? Why do we suddenly become repulsive of God or
talking about God when we handle public office?
Why are we scared of championing our
faith in the name of “not every citizen is a Christian” or “this is a secular
state.” How come only Christians believe in secularization or the so called
separation of church and state? If a Muslim gets into office, he does all he
can to promote his religion, he could even be accused of Islamizing the state but
what stops Christians in power from Christianizing the state?
Why are we so lukewarm as Christians?
Why do we believe only priests and religious should do God’s work? Do we even
realize without our help, they can’t do much?
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, help me give
my best as your labourer. Amen.
*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 26th Week in
Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Nehemiah 8:1-12 and Luke 10:1-12).*
Fr. Abu.
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