“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.”. Jesus sees the crowd, and seeing the crowd he knows they need someone to guide them, shepherd them, we are told. So what is his response? His response is to commission his twelve disciples, giving them authority over unclean spirits and cure diseases. Christ is not speaking of a physical harvest, like a field of grain, rather he is speaking of a spiritual harvest, a harvest of the people of God.
“The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” – this is the core of the gospel – repentance. Paul tells us that it is through Christ that we have received reconciliation. Paul reminds us that Christ has died for us, so that we could be reconciled to God.
By Christ’s death, and our belief in it, we are set apart, we are made clean, we become “a kingdom of priests, a holy nation”. This Holy Nation is not one nation like we have here on earth, rather, it is a citizenship in heaven.
So what then are the shepherds Christ gives us? Even today Christ still calls men to care for the harvest. Most especially Christ calls deacons, priests, and bishops. The bishops are the successors to the apostles. In a way, they serve as governors of the Kingdom of God, governing Christ’s flock. Then we have the pope, who serves as the Prime Minister, as Christ’s representative to the world, who governs his church, ensuring there are shepherds of the church. The bishops have a similar job ensuring that there are priests to govern Christ’s people.
Through it all, Christ’s commission that there must be laborers for the harvest, is something that the priests and the people should keep in mind. The people are the harvest, and the harvest is the holy nation, the nation of priests. The priests are the laborers. The bishops and pope are the master of the harvest. Christ is the master of the harvest, who sends out the apostles as the laborers.
Priests must keep in mind their call to be laborers in the harvest. They are called to carry Christ to the people, in the mass, in their homilies, in their giving the sacraments to the sick and dying. And the people must realize that they are the harvest, and they must heed the words of the laborers of the harvest, as they are sent by the master of the harvest, that is, Christ.
Where does the harvest end? Every harvest ends with a gathering. It is the job of the shepherds, and then finally Christ, to gather the harvest together, into one holy nations, one nation of priests. And then the silo or barn we end up in, is heaven. We are a harvest bound for heaven. It is the job of our shepherds to guide us onto our harvest home.
The core thing we must remember is repentance, and the forgiveness offered us by Christ. This is the first step to becoming apart of the harvest. We see in the Old Testament, there was only one nation that was called to be God’s Holy Nation. Now, that offer is open to all of us. All of us can become apart of Christ’s fold. No longer is one nation “God’s special possession, dear to me than all other people”. Rather one spiritual nation, the Christian people, the people of the universal or catholic church, are called to be “God’s special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mind”.
The harvest is the church, and we are the harvest. The master of the harvest is Christ, and the laborers of the harvest are the shepherds of our souls, the priests and bishops. And the proclamation of the shepherds is especially to be “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”. The Kingdom of Heaven is above all the preaching that the shepherds are called to do.
We are all bound for the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom that all reconciled to God through Christ are welcome to. The kingdom of heaven is made present on earth, and Christ still offers us shepherds to care for the harvest, to care for our souls. And that is what the church is. The Church is Christ’s continual presence here on earth. Christ is present in the church always, until the consummation of the ages, for the good of souls. And the church has spread throughout the world, so that the souls of every person may be saved.
Let us remember also the duty of every Christian person to continually share the faith with every person. We are all called to share the gospel. We are all called to be a good witness of the Christian faith, of our faith in Christ. We are called even here to be “a holy nation, and a nation of priests”. Everyday and everywhere, we are called to be Christians. We also are called to be laborers of the harvest, the harvest of all people, Christian and non-Christian, sharing the faith always and forever, inviting them into Christ’s fold, giving a shepherd to the lost sheep without a shepherd.
Let us pray continually for our shepherds, that they may be faithful shepherds and faithful laborers of the harvest. Let us pray that our Lord may continually send good and faithful stewards to continually share the gospel of our Lord. And let us pray that we as well may also be good witnesses of the Christian faith to all the world.
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