A Reflection on the Daily Readings by Deacon Manno
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
In today’s Gospel Jesus heals a demoniac who was mute because of the demon that had possessed him. When the demon was driven out, the man began to speak. That impressed the crowds but terrified the Pharisees who decried Jesus as the prince of demons. But the criticism did not stop Christ as he went about the countryside proclaiming the Gospel.
He is troubled, however, in seeing the crowds and noting that they had been abandoned as “sheep without a shepherd.” To his disciples he says, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” The meaning, of course, is basically: where are the shepherds, where are those who toil in the vineyard to help lead?
I know that some of us might ask the same question, cut-off as we have been from Mass and the sacraments for so long during the corona virus outbreak. In our case it is not that we have lost our shepherds, it is that we have lost contact with them. Try as we might, the condition that we face today can lead to the feelings of spiritual abandonment.
That is especially true of the elderly and sick. Visits in hospitals, if allowed at all, are being limited to family members and only one per day. On top of that, clergy visits are restricted to only those in danger of death. Grandparents are home, locked away, if you will, from family, friends and, most importantly, from grandchildren.
And so the last line of the Gospel should be taken to heart: “Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” I don’t think it takes an expert in biblical interpretation to understand what that means in our day. Those laborers are us. We need to reach out to those we know who are alone, to bring the message of love and hope to those who today are cut-off from the comfort of Holy Mother Church.
But not all of us can do that; not everyone has the ability to make contact or feel comfortable in doing so. But all can easily do so through the Church. If you or someone you know needs assistance, the parish is here to assist you, but we can’t do so if we don’t know of the situation.
In today’s first reading, Hosea is warning of idolatry in which people not only follow ungodly rulers but begin to worship material goods rather than the True God, all of which leads to a spiritual idolatry where we become mute – like the demonic – to the witness of God’s goodness.
A simple message for today is to un-mute ourselves and to take our rightful place in God’s vineyard. That means not only looking out for ourselves, but also for those who may find themselves feeling cut-off from the Church: the lost, the lonely, the poor.
Follow the message.
