BIG HARVEST, MORE WORKERS

14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Amazing Grace

I really enjoyed the film “Amazing Grace” which I saw about three years ago. It didn’t get a very wide release and it’s probably hard to find on DVD, but is certainly worth looking for. Don’t be put off by my synopsis of it; it sounds a bit like a rather dull episode of Masterpiece Theatre, but in fact, is a very inspiring film about the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. It tells the story of William Wilberforce, the British Parliamentarian who was one of the prime leaders in the abolition movement, certainly the political leader. For thirty years he worked tirelessly to end slavery despite very discouraging results, especially at the beginning.

Wilberforce, like most abolitionists, was a devout Christian, a Methodist. Earlier in his life, he had undergone a profound religious conversion. He was already a Member of Parliament, having been elected at a very young age, and he seriously questioned whether he should quit politics and go into the ministry. There is a scene in the movie where the members of the abolition movement, Christians themselves, try to persuade him not to abandon politics: their argument is, “You say that you can’t decide whether you should serve God or human society. Has it occurred to you that maybe you can do both?” Wilberforce listens to them and he stays the course as a politician, strongly influenced by his Christian beliefs.

Wilberforce’s Choice

Years later, he wrote this about his decision to remain in politics: “My walk is a public one, my business is in the world and I must mix in the assemblies of men, or quit the post which providence seems to have assigned to me.” Though he was never ordained as a minister of any church, Wilberforce was one of the most influential Christians of his time, a politician who did tremendous good. I can’t help but comment that these days it seems that any sort of religious motivation in a politician is frowned upon. It is a measure of how secular we have become and a real pity, given the contribution of Christians over the years to building a better society - of which the abolition of slavery is just one example.

Hiring Blitz

In Luke’s Gospel today, we see Jesus doing what any good leader or manager would do when faced with a big task: he puts more workers on the job. It seems that the twelve apostles were just not enough, even though they were the inner circle who had been instructed personally by Jesus. They couldn’t carry out the task all on their own; and so Jesus appoints seventy others to be a kind of advance team. He sends them out ahead of him in pairs to every town which he intends to visit.

Symbolically Significant Seventy

The number seventy was not chosen haphazardly; it had symbolic meaning. Seventy was the number of elders chosen by Moses to help him in leading the people in the wilderness. At that time, seventy was also thought to be the number of nations in the world. Luke, among the four Evangelists, always takes the universal view. This account foreshadows how the followers of Jesus, after his death and resurrection, would carry the gospel message worldwide.

From Listeners to Leaders

All seventy disciples must have started out as people who listened to Jesus’ message and followed him, but with time he added to their responsibilites. They weren’t apostles in the strict sense of being part of the Twelve, but they shared in the apostolic mission: they were sent out. Like them, we begin as disciples, people who hear the word and who believe; but with time we are also asked to share what we received. Catholics are often inclined to limit the proclamation of the good news to a professional class of clergy and religious. But the mission is bigger than that and so it requires a lot more workers. Each baptized Christian in his or her own way is given a share in the mission.

Mission and Ministry

The universal Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses it very beautifully where it says, “In the Church there is diversity of ministry, but unity of mission. To the apostles and their successors, Christ has entrusted the tasks of teaching, sanctifying, and governing in his name, but the laity also have, in the Church and in the world, their own assignments in the mission of the people of God”. William Wilberforce realized he could do more good as a politician than a minister, especially as a politician who put his Christian beliefs into practice. In the same way today, we need politicians, teachers, parents, journalists, business owners, neighbourhood leaders, coaches, whose faith is at the heart of what they do.

From the harbour of the priesthood I recognize that lay people have a better opportunity than the clergy to bring the faith daily into the marketplace of society. The harvest is abundant for those who have eyes to see and a heart to respond to it: in hospitals, homes, schools, prisons, work places, neighbourhoods and governments. In all these places, the gospel is made visible through people motivated by their faith; who are effective witnesses, not just by what they do, but by the way they do it. Jesus did not limit the mission of his Kingdom to a select few; and neither should we.

Father Dan Miehm

July 4, 2010

St. John the Baptist Parish, Burlington