Sunday the 14th of June 2026 - The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Exodus 19:2-6a/ Ps 100(99)/ Romans 5:6-11/ Matthew 9:36-10:8

In the 1850s, in the slums of London, there was a young man who could not help feeling compassion for the poor that he saw all around him, the people rejected by society, outcasts because of the way they lived. He felt compelled to do something to help, not waiting for them to come to church but going out to find them. Together with his wife Catherine, William Booth started what we know today as The Salvation Army. Booth said that he did not have any great talents, or special gifts, only a deep conviction that God had loved him first, and that love simply had to overflow to others. He took what he had received, and he gave it away freely. In today's Gospel, Jesus sees the crowds, troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd, and his heart is moved with pity. He turns to his disciples and sends them out. The question for today is the same one Booth answered with his whole life, when we see the poor and suffering will we walk on by or stop and help?

Jesus lays before us the image of a vast field of golden wheat, ripe and ready. The harvest is plentiful, but only a handful of workers stand at the edge of the field, looking out at all that needs to be gathered. Time is short, the grain will spoil if no one comes to help. This is still the image of our world today. Matthew tells us that Jesus looked at the lost, the hurting, the confused, and his heart was moved. He turned to his disciples and told them to pray that the master of the harvest might send labourers to his harvest. He then sent the Twelve out himself. They became the answer to the prayer he had just asked them to pray. This is at the heart of our faith. We are not just spectators of God's love. We are sent, commissioned, we are the answer to someone's prayer for hope.

In the first reading from the Book of Exodus, God speaks to Moses on Mount Sinai with words of great tenderness reminding them that he dealt with the Egyptians and bore His chosen people up on eagles wings. He made Israel a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. This is not just about ancient Israel; it is about us. Through Baptism, we have become that royal priesthood, the holy nation. We have been borne up on eagle wings, lifted out of the slavery of sin, and brought close to the heart of God. What should a kingdom of priests do? A priest stands between God and the people, offering one to the other. Through our Baptism, we are called to bring God to the world and to bring the world to God. That is our mission.

In the second reading Saint Paul tells us that God proves his love for us while we are still sinners. Jesus died on the cross while we were still sinners. Not after we had cleaned ourselves up, after we had earned his favour. While we were still lost, still wandering, still broken, Jesus died for us. This is reconciliation. We have been brought back from exile, welcomed home, embraced by a Father who never stops loving us. This is the Good News we are sent out to share. The mission of every Christian flows from the overwhelming experience of being loved by God first. We cannot give what we have not received. Once we have received it, we cannot keep it to ourselves. Jesus told his disciples that they have received without payment and therefore must give without payment. We must never seek to turn God's gift into a means of self-promotion or gain. The good news of the Gospel is not ours. We are merely the messengers.

The message to take away today is that we are called to present Jesus to the world. Through our lives we should present Jesus in the way we speak, the way we forgive, the way we love our families, bring up our children, the way we treat others. Through our lives we should show the world the face of Jesus. We are called to be healers in a wounded world. Most of us are not called to perform miracles, but we are called to heal. To heal the loneliness of our neighbour, to heal the wound of the family member we have not spoken to in years, to heal the discouragement of the colleague who is struggling. The world is full of wounded people, and Jesus has placed his healing power in our hands. We must give freely, expecting nothing in return. We live in a commercial world where kindness is calculated, and gifts come with strings attached. The love of God flows in only one direction, outward, without measure, without conditions. When we love this way, we reveal that we truly belong to God.

Jesus told us to pray that the Lord of the harvest send out labourers. We must pray for vocations to the priesthood, pray for our priests, who today carry burdens heavier than ever before, often serving multiple parishes, often weary, often misunderstood. They need our prayers more than we might know. We must pray for yourselves and our families, that we may answer the call to labour in the harvest in whatever way God is asking of us.

At Mass we receive the ultimate gift. The Body and Blood of Christ, given without cost, poured out for us while we are still sinners. When we receive Holy Communion, it is not a private treasure to lock away in our hearts. It is nourishment for our mission. We receive Jesus as the one who sends us out to be His presence, His healing, His love to a world that is waiting, often without knowing it, for the Good News that we have been given. The harvest is plentiful. The labourers are few. But we are here, and we have been sent to share what we have received.

God Bless Brendan