11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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14^th June 202

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to 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.” Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.

The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

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Homily

Many years ago, when I was a young priest in Paraguay, a friend of mine who ran a business selling bathroom and toilet fixtures, told me that his business was losing money. After he explained to me that a great part of his problem was the selfish attitude of the workers, I asked him how much he paid them. The answer was that he paid them the government controlled minimum wage. I said to him, “you should give them a percentage of your profits.” He asked how much. I said to him, about 30 percent.” He made the arrangement with them. To his surprise the attitude of the workers changed, and they started to be more efficient and by year’s end the business had recovered. The business was not only that of my friend, it also belonged to the workers, or so they felt. As I began preparing the Homily for this weekend, I remembered that incident and the fact that that businessman had started treating his workers generously and was in fact building God’s kingdom for them.

The Gospel reading which we just heard, tells us that Jesus, as he began his public ministry proclaimed, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” This proclamation continues to resonate in the hearts and minds of those who take their call to discipleship seriously, and because of taking this call seriously, a few years ago, all the priests of the archdiocese of Port of Spain went off on a retreat to one of the beaches. The purpose of the exercise was to look closely at our society, see its pressing needs as far as transforming society is concerned, and find strategies for dealing with the obstacles to societal transformation. What was very evident is that all who went to that retreat felt a growing sense of purpose and came away with far greater clarity as to what needed to be done.

As I went through my meditation on the Gospel given to us for our reflection this week, it became clearer and clearer that this proclamation which we have in the Gospel reading for this Sunday is the result of a similar exercise done by Jesus.

Jesus is moved by the situation, “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus also recognizes that there are not enough people to deal with the situation; “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Then with the few workers he has, he strategizes in order to ensure that the obstacles to the transformation of society of his time were faced and conquered. What is important for us to recognize is that the obstacles to societal transformation experienced by Jesus and enumerated in the gospel are all things which today keep people apart from each other and which limit communication.

I remember a few years ago being elected to be part of a chapter of the Holy Ghost Fathers which was being held in Paris. While there, the bishop of that part of Paris came to speak to us and he told us that only five percent of the Catholic population of his diocese went to Mass on Sundays. This is a problem which affects many dioceses in various parts of the world. And so the sign of societal transformation, or in gospel language, the sign that God’s kingdom is at hand, is the eradication of all that limits communication or the eradication of all that keeps people apart from each other. The apostles are told to go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel — that is to all who find themselves on the margins, excluded from society.

We live in an age in the church in which doing one’s own thing seems to be the preferred method. The gospel teaches us, however, the need for planning and for having goals which can be attained. Pope Francis was very aware of this and called the Church to synodality. A synodal church is a church which together seeks to discover and plan together the goals which are appropriate for our times. The goals, however, are all about our way of being. Our goals must be those which Jesus gave to his disciples. They had to go out and in their very beings remove the obstacles to communication and togetherness. It is because of this that Jesus cured lepers, and those who suffered obstacles to community engagement, the blind and the lame and those ostracized by society.

Today we are the ones called to go out and meet those on the margins to help them achieve the dignity that all God’s children are supposed to enjoy. Those must be our goals and if we keep these goals, we know that God will do the rest.

That is what the saints did. That is what Archbishop Anthony Pantin, the first local archbishop of Trinidad and his brother, Fr. Gerry Pantin did, and God gave the increase. As we thank God for these saintly persons who show us how it is done, the Gospel passage for this Sunday presents us with a prerequisite which we must keep in mind. The Gospel says to us, “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” This statement reminds us that financial or material benefits must not be the driving force of our evangelization. The driving force of our evangelization must be the restoration of human dignity among those to whom it has been denied. The kingdom of God began on earth with the resurrection of Jesus and the “Coming of the Holy Spirit” who strengthens us, the present-day disciples, to go out and build the Kingdom of Justice, Peace and Love here on earth.

Unfortunately, we often see many who consider themselves disciples doing the opposite of what the Gospels demand of us. All of us disciples of Jesus are called to be rich, not in material things but in God’s grace. Yes, striving to build the Kingdom of God here on earth is at times difficult and often dangerous, but Christ who calls us always accompanies us and gives us the strength to be faithful. The martyrs of Uganda, of Korea and of other regions and countries tell us that it is possible to be faithful. The lives of Mons. Romero of El Salvador, of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, of Ghandi in India, of Nelson Mandela in South Africa tell us that it is possible to work for and bring God’s Kingdom a little closer. May we always remember that the vocation of every Christian is Martyrdom.

Prayer

All powerful and ever-loving God, You set goals for your apostles which they did indeed fulfill. They went out and cured the sick, raised the dead, cleansed lepers and drove out demons. They went out and brought those who were excluded back into the community. They found and restored the lost sheep of the House of Israel back to their rightful places. Give to us, the present-day disciples, the grace to imitate the apostles so that we may restore to their rightful places those who have been excluded. Thus, all will know that the Kingdom is close at hand. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our Mother and your Son Jesus. Amen.