DAILY MEDITATION: “Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled...”

Liturgical day: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Gospel text (Mt 9,36—10,8): 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.”

“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”

Fr. Joan SERRA i Fontanet
(Barcelona, Spain)

Today, the Gospel tells us that the Lord was moved with pity —at the sight of the crowds— because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd (cf. Mt 9, 36). The people of Israel knew very well, better than we —urbanites— do, what a shepherd was, and the hustle and bustle sheep could create when lost and without their shepherd.

Should Jesus come today, I think He would repeat the same words: that there are a lot of disoriented and confused persons, trying to find meaning in their lives. —O Lord, how can we overcome this big problem? Well, Jesus requests prayer, so He chooses twelve Apostles and sends them over to proclaim His message, the Kingdom of God.

He chose twelve apostles! He sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. He sent these twelve men to announce: “‘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” (Mt 10,7-8). What the Apostles did and what we have to do is to worship the person of Jesus Christ and divulge his message of peace and love, and do it as a gift.

All of we are called: the successors of the Apostles —the bishops and other pastors—, but also, along with them, the rest of the flock. We all have the same mission in this world: to heal the sores and diseases of mankind, and guide it in its quest. Not only the bishops and the priests, but also the lay people: for instance, with their families —in its dual character of home and school of faith; at the university and schools; with the communication Media; in the public health systems... and every Christian at their working and social environment.

Let us hear St. Francis de Sales, who writes: “When God the Creator made all things, he commanded the plants to bring forth fruit each according to its own kind; he has likewise commanded Christians, who are the living plants of his Church, to bring forth the fruits of devotion, each one in accord with his character, his station and his calling.”

Source: evangeli.net