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.” Matthew 9:36—10:8
“The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few”. Jesus was deeply moved with pity for those who were troubled and abandoned. Jesus instructed his disciples to do what he did: cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and drive out demons. Reflect today on what that means for us. How can we heal those among us? We are to pick up where the disciples left off and go into the world and wherever we see lost sheep we need to show love and compassion, share the Gospel with them and proclaim the good news. Christ is our Savior and if we believe in Him we will join Him in the joyfulness of eternal life.
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