Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Fr. Franlou Bardon, SVD (USC, Cebu City)
Saturday 1st Week of Advent
Photo: Blessings from Parents during the Profession of Perpetual Vows
Jesus is aware of the challenges in the missions: enormous work and lack of personnel. So He urges us to pray to the God of the harvest for more people who will respond to the call of continuing His work. How should the response be played out?
First, we must be personally convinced that this is the kind of life we want to do in our lifetime. Otherwise, we may never discover and optimize the unique gifts the Holy Spirit gave us at baptism and confirmation. Worse, when we get tired of doing service, we may end up complaining.
Secondly, seeing the immensity of the problems in our mission area, we may feel overwhelmed. Our resources are never enough. We wish we could multiply ourselves or have longer hours in a day. But we are asking for the impossible. Why don’t we just avoid actions that may drain our energy, like conflicts and unhealthy competition? Since one can do something that others cannot, we have to support our companions’ initiatives as much as we want to get their backing for ours. In this way, we can optimize our efficiency in pursuing the services expected of us.
We may have a staffing problem in the missions, but if we are united, we can surmount the challenges without losing that joy of having the opportunity to serve God’s people.
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