Oct
18
It’s Harvest Time
October 18, 2007 |
What a great week for saints!!
On Monday, we had St. Teresa of Avila, Tuesday was St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, yesterday brought St. Ignatius of Antioch and today is St. Luke, the author of the gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
In one week, we have celebrated the life of a great spiritualist/reformer, a holy woman who started a great devotion, a courageous pastor and martyr, and now a man who is one of the most widely read (if not the most widely read) author of all time.
It’s probably not a coincidence that the Church picks today’s gospel reading from the Gospel According to Luke. Nevertheless, today’s passage from Luke 10 is one of my favorites . . . “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
St. Teresa, St. Margaret Mary, St. Ignatius and St. Luke were all laborers for the harvest, and more importantly, they have brought other laborers to the harvest through their writings, courage, devotion, and sanctity.
Let’s never forget - we are all called to be laborers for the harvest - to do God’s work and will here on earth. It doesn’t matter whether we are clergy or laity, devout Catholics, laxed Catholics, other denominational Christians, non-Christians, agnostics or atheists, we all have a place in the field - we all have a role to play to bring in God’s harvest.
Let us also remember that St. Luke’s significance goes beyond his writings. He was a physician, he may have been a painter, he was a helper to St. Paul on his journeys, he was a Greek, and he was a convert. He was a rather eclectic guy who listened to the Holy Spirit and did God’s will in following and writing about Christ and the apostles.
We are all called to do the same - that is to listen to the Holy Spirit, to do God’s will, and to follow Christ. We may not author a book that lasts for antiquity, but we will bring in that part of the harvest that God assigns to us.
So let’s get to the field - it’s harvest time!
Painting: “St.Luke” - Frans Hals (1580-1666)
