Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s reading from Hosea, God is telling the people what the consequences are of their spiritual infidelity. They will be slaves again.
600 years later in the reading from Matthew, God’s promise has come true. Romans have conquered and occupied Israel. The people are hurt and helpless. Demons possess many, but the leaders think Jesus’s righteous healing and teaching are strange and evil.
Jesus tells us what to do when we find ourselves part of a nation that no longer recognizes him or his teachings. We need to pray. We must ask the Master to send more workers.
This isn’t a one-time request. Instead, it’s an ongoing, daily prayer. When we pray over and over for the Master to send workers, God changes our hearts in unpredictable ways. You and I might be changed to encourage and support the workers, or God may send me out as workers. As we faithfully pray, the Spirit makes a home in our hearts and begins to answer prayers through us. There are a lot of people in your life and my life that need our witness of Christ’s Love and mercy. Our city and our world is hungry for the good news of the Kingdom of God. We are hungry for a community where people take care of one-another, where fear is blotted out by trust in God, where those who feel silenced are able to speak again. Lord, please send more workers out to evangelize and tell the good news! Amen.
Chris Nieport