Here’s a text if you’ve only a minute …

Come before him, singing for joy! [Psalm]

What proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. [Second reading]

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. [Alleluia verse]

Jesus felt sorry for them, because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. [Gospel] As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.

[Gospel]

ST. BEUNO’S OUTREACH IN THE DIOCESE OF WREXHAM

This week’s texts if you want to reflect further: Exodus 19:2–6a; Psalm 99 (100); Romans 5: 6–11; Matthew 9: 36–10: 8

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Let us pray for the grace to follow Christ more closely. Almighty God, our hope and our strength, without you we falter. Help us to follow Christ and to live according to your will.

[Old Opening Prayer]

‘This I ask you: be shepherds, living with the smell of the sheep.’

(Pope Francis)

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A 18th June 2017

‘The Harvest is Rich,

but the Labourers are Few’

This Sunday’s readings remind us that our compassionate Lord needs each one of us to help him bring home the harvest, just as a good shepherd goes out to find and care for his lost sheep. Can I respond to this urgent call today?

In the first reading the Israelites, liberated by God from Egypt, reach Sinai, where Moses himself had once been a shepherd. Here God speaks with Moses on the holy mountain, inviting his people to obey his covenant and live as his chosen, holy nation.

The psalm celebrates our merciful God, who protects and cares for us as a shepherd cares for his sheep.

The second reading assures us that God showed the extent of his love for us through the death of Jesus, who paid for our sins even when we were still helpless and far away. But now we have been reconciled, and can trust joyfully in God’s saving power.

In the Gospel, Jesus looks with compassion on the downcast, leaderless crowds, and empowers the twelve (whose names are listed) to go out as harvest labourers to heal the sick and proclaim God’s kingdom. Their urgent mission is to ’the lost sheep of Israel’, though eventually that mission will extend to all nations.

This week I might pray to hear my name called as the Lord asks ‘Will you come and labour with me?’ – and to respond to that call with ever greater generosity and courage.

Opening Prayer O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas,

and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace,

that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds.

I settle in my place of prayer and take time to become still in the way that suits me best. I wait in silence for a while, inviting God to come to me today in whatever way he chooses.

In time I read and slowly re-read the passage. Perhaps I use my senses to imagine the people gathered in the barren landscape; Moses scaling the holy mountain of Sinai to encounter God. I notice anything that specially touches me.

The Lord asks the people to remember how he has carried them and liberated them from their captors. Have there been times when I have been cared for by the Lord in this way, or felt he has brought me close to him ... even though I perhaps did not realise it at the time? I ponder … and give thanks.

God’s desire for his people is that they cling to his covenant and live as his very own, precious in his sight. What does it mean to me to live in this way as part of the Lord’s ‘consecrated nation’ … in my own daily life … in this world … in my work or parish?

I speak freely of this with the Lord, friend to friend, and take time to listen to his voice. I ask confidently for whatever help is needed, whether for myself, or for those around me.

When I am ready, I end my prayer slowly, asking the Lord to stay close beside me today and always. Glory be to the Father ...

First Reading: Exodus 19: 2–6

From Rephidim the Israelites set out again; and when they reached

the wilderness of Sinai, there in the wilderness they pitched their

camp; there facing the mountain Israel pitched camp. Moses then

went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain,

saying, ‘Say this to the House of Jacob, declare this to the sons of

Israel, “You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians,

how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.

From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast

to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own for all

the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a

consecrated nation.”.’

Gospel: Matthew 9: 36 – 10: 8 (part)

When Jesus saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they

were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers

are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his

harvest’.

He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over

unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of

diseases and sickness. […] These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing

them as follows:

‘Do not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any

Samaritan town; go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at

hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out

devils. You received without charge, give without charge.’

As I prepare to become still, I step consciously into this holy space before the Lord. However I come to prayer today, I can trust that God is close.

I turn to the text reverently, without haste, allowing it time to resonate with me. Perhaps I allow Jesus’s gaze to fall directly on me as he looks around at the crowds. Does he see someone anxious and sad, yearning for guidance ... or someone itching to venture out on mission? Whatever I hold in my heart, I try to show it to the Lord and ask for his help.

Jesus empowers his very varied band of twelve to go out and work on his behalf. I ponder the ways in which God empowers me to be his disciple… the gifts he has given me … the communities where I live and work.

Are there ‘lost sheep’ around me for whom the Lord needs me to care? I ask him to show me, and help me respond generously and courageously.

Before I end my prayer, I bring before the Lord all those in this world and in my own life who yearn for the care of a loving shepherd.

I may like to make this my own prayer today: Lord, may I see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, this day and every day.