Homily for 14 June, Trinity II

“He called to him his twelve disciples … The names of the twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter.”

We might easily wonder why S. Matthew takes the time to list out all of the 12 Apostles. Surely it’s enough that he mentions the authority which Christ gave to them, and the mission they were sent to carry out? Of course S. Matthew isn’t the only one who names them…indeed it’s something we find rather consistently through Scripture. We know the names of the patriarchs, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph; we know the names of many of the Old Testament prophets; to that we can now add that we know the names of the 12 Apostles which Christ chose. And this should suggest to us that this isn’t just chance, that there is something deeper going on.

When he looked out at the gathering of his followers and commissioned these 12 it was a deliberate choice. He looked deep into their hearts, and he called them all, one by one; each time calling them by name. There were others around that he could have called, probably including others who might have seemed like better candidates. But Christ knew what he was about, and he read out those 12 names.

But he didn’t stop there. Ever since that moment he has been calling out new names to add to the list of people he is sending out; he hasn’t stopped, indeed he won’t stop until he returns for the final judgement…right up until that moment, he will be calling his people and giving to each a particular part in the great work which is the gathering in of his harvest. Today he is calling every single one of us, calling us all by name – calling me, calling you, speaking your name just as he spoke S. Peter’s, S. Andrew’s and so forth.

The harvest is still plentiful, and workers are still needed for that harvest. Every Christian has a role to play in gathering the harvest; every Christian is being called by Christ to be one of the workers in the harvest. There is real work to be done, and we are all, in our own ways, being called to do it. The Church continues to proclaim Christ and his message today, as she has done consistently since the day of Pentecost…but for that proclamation to be heard, for it to be effective there needs to be those labourers sent out into the fields…and this means each one of us taking up that mission which we are given. Each one of us listening to the voice of Christ calling us, by name, and sending us out to do his work in the world.

But, and this is a critical point, it always remains Christ’s work. He tells us to pray to the ‘Lord of the harvest’ – when we undertake our missions  we do so under that same ‘Lord of the harvest’. He remains the Lord, he remains the one in charge, both calling and sending – directing the progress of the harvest according to his great wisdom and his good pleasure.

This means that for each of us, our own mission is perfectly suited for us. Often this is something we can only see afterwards. When we think of those original 12, they might well not have been the ones which we would have chosen. Indeed, it is easy to think that Christ has made some mistakes as we read the Gospels and they keep making rather stupid mistakes; S. Peter, in particular, has a speciality of getting the wrong end of every stick he finds, and needing correction from Christ…not the one most of us would pick as the first Pope. But we are not the Lord of the harvest, Christ is, and he knew well what he was doing; he could already look beyond the early mistakes to the great leader which S. Peter becomes, to the great rock on whose foundation so much was built.

This also means that there is a whole array of different missions; not working in competition, but coming together under Christ and in him so that his mission to the world can be carried out. So we need to find our own part in that mission; we need to find which particular work we are being called to in the harvest. For some it’s active, going out with the message of Christ; teaching people the great truths of the Faith. For others it’s simply the prayerful sharing of the love of Christ with family and friends; supporting others through their prayers; strengthening the whole body of Christ.

But we should look to the beginning of the passage. Christ sees the crowds as sheep without shepherd, and tells his disciples to pray for labourers in the harvest. So too we must also pray that in our own time the Lord will provide shepherds for his people. Pray that young men hear the voice of the Lord calling them to serve him as Priests. That those he has spotted as the future shepherds of the sheep will hear the voice of the Lord of the harvest calling them. Calling them to that particular work in the Church – a work without which the Church would simply stop functioning, without which there would be no Sacraments strengthening us all.

Christ has the same mission today as he had when he stood here on earth. To call all people to come to him, to show them that great love which S. Paul wrote to the Romans about, to bring all people into that reconciliation which his death offers to us. That great mission, of which he is the Lord, now demands that we all take up our own part in it. May we all pray for the guidance of that Lord of the harvest to send us out to the work he has chosen for us. Praying especially that he will call and guide those he has chosen to be his Priests, the shepherds and ministers of his great Sacraments.

The harvest remains plentiful, there is lots of work to be done. By our union with Christ may we all hear him call us by name, call us to the work which he has in mind for us – and hearing that call respond with all of our hearts and actions.