Moving Beyond Pity
advent to epiphany - day 7

Today’s readings: Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26; Mathew 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6-8

¹⁹O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will respond instantly to the sound of your cries. ²⁰Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and affliction for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes, ²¹and you will hear a voice say, "This is the way; turn around and walk here."

²³Then the LORD will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your cattle. ²⁴The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff having been blown away by the wind. ²⁵In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill. ²⁶The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days! So it will be when the LORD begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.

The Need for Workers

³⁵Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. ³⁶He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn't know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷He said to his disciples, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. ³⁸So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields."

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

¹Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.

⁵Jesus sent the twelve disciples out with these instructions: "Don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, ⁶but only to the people of Israel—God's lost sheep. ⁷Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!

Jesus was moved with pity at the sight of the “troubled and abandoned” he saw. How can we not also be moved as the haunting eyes and faces cross our TV screens—the dazed victims of tsunamis and earthquakes, the helpless innocents caught in war zones, the lost in our cities? To take in their images is one thing; to be moved to action by becoming one of Jesus’ laborers is another. How will you join his labor force?

-- Catholic Update, “Advent Reflections: Longing for Peace”

taken from advent to epiphany: celebrating the Christmas Season

i am not catholic, but i have a friend in texas that made me think about this, and i think it is cool.

this is getting out late, sorry.