Holy Nativity Catholic Church

He had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd…

The people of God need to be cared for, the people in today’s Gospel were described as sheep without a shepherd. Why were they harassed and helpless? Because the religious leadership of the day were not collectively interested in the well-being of the people, only in the assurance that everyone was following the rules. Now the rules are important, our Lord Himself taught that if anyone breaks the rules and teaches other to do the same, they will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. However, we need to include compassion, as our Lord did here, when dealing with the people of God. What did our Lord instruct us? We are to first, pray to the Lord of the harvest asking for more laborers, for indeed, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Prayer is the specific task of all believers, although it is exemplified in the lives of the cloistered religious. It is noteworthy that the rise or decline of the church begins with prayer. When the apostles sought out deacons it was so they could devote themselves to “…prayer and to the ministry of the word.” That prayer was modeled by them, but was, and is, the collective responsibility of all believers.

As we pray for the spread of the Gospel we also pray for an active response to the call for vocations. The Church consistently needs the faithful to encourage vocations to the priesthood and professed religious life. This begins with the abovementioned prayer. Now our Lord equipped the Disciples with the ability to go, preach, heal, and to cast out demons and sent them out into the surrounding villages to meet the needs of the people both physical and spiritual. One error made today is an overemphasis on the physical needs of people, while not considering that every human soul we encounter is both body and soul. The eternal soul is the most crucial element as it is eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven we are to look toward. Lest we see an erroneous duality where the body is less important than the soul, we see that our Lord sent them to heal as well as to preach. However, this mortal coil is to be renewed after the resurrection. Our immortal soul is what provides the continuity between the now, and the then.

So therefore, let us pray for the workers who are to be the ones bringing the harvest into the barns, let us pray for souls who will respond to the Gospel, and let us be willing workers who stand at the ready to do our Lord’s bidding.

"Prayer is the best preparation for Holy Communion. Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. When we pray we go to meet Christ Who is coming to us. If our Creator and Savior comes from heaven with such great love, it is only fitting that we should go to meet Him. And this is what we do when we spend some time in prayer."- St. Bernadine of Siena (1380-1444) source: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/tes/quotes8.html

Sometimes there is a question as to how to pray. Prayer is the raising of our hearts and minds to God. When we first start this feels awkward. We start to pray and then sputter out because we feel as though all we can do is recite some of the prayers we knew as children. There is a story of a pastor who asked a man in the church to pray at the start of a meeting. An awkward silence ensues, then they heard a childhood prayer rising from the lips of the man. It was all he could think of to say. With persistence the prayers become more personal, more filled with hopes, fears, and petitions. It is said that St. John Vianney once asked an old farmer what he prayed as he sat before the Blessed Sacrament. “Nothing, I look at Him, and He looks at me.” He was spending wordless time in the presence of a dear friend.

In the 17th Chapter of John we read the priestly prayer of our Lord as he prepared for His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. He slipped into prayer with that familiarity that a Son has with His Father. It is no accident that this prayer was recorded for us as it gives His vision for the life of the Church that was to come. His prayer was that we would be unified. He also prayed that we would be true to His Name. May the Lord grant us the grace to be one with Him in prayer that we might also be one with Him as we receive Him in Holy Communion.

Quotes on the Most Blessed Sacrament - Page 8 What famous Saints and other holy people have said about the Eucharist.