Exo. 19:1-6; Rom. 5:6-11; Mt. 9:36-10:8
Many years ago, a young woman named Priti Sinha was waiting at a railway station in India. As she stood on the platform, she noticed a little girl scavenging for food among piles of garbage. Hundreds of passengers passed by. They saw the child, but they
The Old Testament repeatedly reveals a God who sees the suffering of His people. In the Book of Exodus, when the Israelites groaned under slavery in Egypt, God said, “I have observed the misery of my people. I have heard their cry.” Before God acted, He saw. Before He delivered, He listened. Moses was then sent as God's labourer into the harvest. Moses did not volunteer. He felt inadequate. Yet God sent him because God's compassion demanded action. Every mission in the Bible begins with a God who sees suffering and a person who is willing to respond.
Jesus tells His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.” The problem is not the harvest. There are countless people longing for meaning, healing, hope, and love. The problem is the shortage of labourers. There is a beautiful story about a teacher in a poor village in India. Every day she noticed one little boy sitting alone, dirty and hungry. Many passed him without noticing. She began bringing him food and helping him after school. Years later that boy became a doctor. When asked what inspired him, he said, “One person looked at me and made me feel I mattered.” The harvest was plentiful. One labourer responded. The Kingdom of God often grows through such unnoticed acts.
Notice that Jesus does not send perfect people. He sends ordinary men. Peter was impulsive. Thomas doubted. Matthew was a tax collector hated by his own people. Simon had once belonged to a revolutionary movement. Judas would betray Him. Yet Jesus entrusted His mission to them. This should give us hope. God does not wait for perfect people; He perfects those He calls. Many saints understood this.
When Mother Teresa walked through the streets of Calcutta, she encountered people whom society considered untouchable. One day she found a dying man lying in a gutter, covered with wounds. She carried him to her home for the dying. A journalist watching her work said, “I would not do that for a million dollars.” Mother Teresa replied, “Neither would I. I do it for Christ.” She was fulfilling today's Gospel. She was cleansing the leper, healing the sick, and raising the dead—not always physically, but restoring human dignity and hope where life seemed lost.
Jesus commands the disciples to “cure the sick.” In our world, sickness is not only physical. Many people suffer from loneliness, anxiety, depression, fear, and despair. Sometimes a listening ear can heal more deeply than medicine. There is a story about a young man who was preparing to end his life. He later said that on that very day, a stranger smiled at him, greeted him warmly, and asked how he was doing. That small act interrupted his despair. He sought help and eventually rebuilt his life. Healing often begins with simple human kindness. Every Christian is called to be a healer.
Jesus also says, “Raise the dead.” Most of us will never physically raise the dead, but we encounter people whose dreams have died, whose hope has died, whose faith has died. The prophet Ezekiel saw a valley filled with dry bones. Humanly speaking, there was no future. Yet God breathed His Spirit upon those bones and brought them back to life. The vision reminds us that God specializes in reviving what seems dead. Every time we encourage a discouraged person, forgive someone who has failed, or help a sinner return to God, we participate in raising the dead.
The command to “cleanse the lepers” also speaks powerfully today. Lepers in biblical times were excluded and isolated. Every society has its lepers. They may be migrants, refugees, the elderly abandoned by families, the homeless, or those stigmatized because of failure or weakness. During the lifetime of Damien of Molokai, people suffering from leprosy were sent to an isolated island in Hawaii. Most people feared them. Father Damien chose to live among them. He ate with them, prayed with them, built homes and churches for them, and eventually contracted leprosy himself. He did not merely preach about Christ; he became Christ's presence among them. That is what today's Gospel demands.
Jesus also commands, “Cast out demons.” The demons we face today may not always be visible spirits. They may be hatred, racism, greed, corruption, violence, addiction, and lies. In the Old Testament, David confronted Goliath, not merely as a giant warrior but as a force of fear that enslaved a nation. Every generation faces its own Goliaths. Christians are called to confront the demons that destroy human dignity and divide humanity.
The Gospel then says, “You received without payment; give without payment.” Everything we have is a gift. Life is a gift. Faith is a gift. Forgiveness is a gift. Love is a gift. Therefore, Christian service can never become a business transaction. There is a moving poem by the English poet John Donne which says, “No man is an island.” We belong to one another. What we have received freely from God must flow freely to others. The saints understood this. They gave not because they were wealthy but because they knew they had first received God's love.
Today's Gospel is especially relevant in our troubled world. We live in an age marked by wars, geopolitical conflicts, refugee crises, economic inequality, and struggles for power. Nations compete for influence. Leaders seek dominance. Entire populations suffer the consequences. Jesus offers a radically different vision. He does not say, “The harvest is plentiful; send armies.” He says, “Send labourers.” The answer to the world's problems is not merely more power but more compassion. The Christian response to global conflicts is not indifference or hatred but active peacemaking.
Consider the example of Desmond Tutu during the painful years following apartheid in South Africa. Many expected revenge. Instead, he championed reconciliation. He understood that healing a wounded nation required truth, justice, and forgiveness. He demonstrated that Christians are called not to deepen divisions but to build bridges.
For the modern Christian, being sent into the harvest may mean refusing to spread hatred on social media, defending the dignity of migrants and refugees, caring for victims of war, supporting peace initiatives, protecting the environment, helping the poor, and standing with those who have no voice. We may not travel to distant mission lands, but every home, workplace, classroom, and neighbourhood is a mission field.
There is an old story about a man walking along a beach after a storm. Thousands of starfish had been washed ashore and were dying in the sun. The man began throwing them back into the sea one by one. Another person laughed and said, “There are thousands of them. You cannot possibly make a difference.” The man picked up another starfish, threw it into the ocean, and replied, “It made a difference to that one.”
That is exactly how Jesus worked. He saw individuals in the crowd. He touched one leper, healed one blind man, comforted one grieving widow, forgave one sinner at a time. Then He entrusted the same mission to His disciples. Today He entrusts it to us.
The world still contains the sick who need healing, the dead who need hope, the lepers who need acceptance, and the oppressed who need liberation. The harvest is still plentiful. Jesus still looks upon humanity with compassion. The only question is whether we will become the labourers He seeks.
May people encounter through us the healing hands of Jesus, the compassionate heart of Jesus, and the hopeful voice of Jesus. Then the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jesus proclaimed, will indeed come near to our world. Amen.
Satish