"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."

The Gospel appointed for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken from Luke:

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'  I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.  "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!"  (Lk. 10: 1-17).

Jesus sends his disciples in pairs to prepare the way for him and the Good News.  Jesus says that the harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few.  How true that is!  There are so many who are so hungry to hear the Good News of Jesus.  Many of them have a sense of emptiness in their lives and they fill that emptiness with things that do not last.  Jesus sends us into the fields as well to bring the Good News to everyone we meet.  Be a laborer, go out into the fields, and you will see that the harvest is plentiful.

Let us pray:  Almighty God, grant us opportunity, give us willingness to serve you day by day; that what we do and how we bear each other's burdens, may be our sacrifice to you.  Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Thursday, 16 May, Sharing Your Faith Dinner at Jo and Jim Bremer’s home.

Sunday is Pentecost!  Wear red.  We will baptize Kensleigh Paige Florence and Jeremiah James Florence.

8 June 2013: Gospel by the Sea.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

The Rev. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550