IFTTT Autopost 
On this Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we read this from the Gospel of Luke:
“At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so, ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for the harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among the wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him, but if not, it will return to you” (Luke 10: 1-6).
Today, 21 centuries later, we still hear the words, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few” when it comes to vocations to the ordained priesthood. The parish of San Francisco de Asís in which I serve, for example, covers 250-square miles of mountains, and it has 87 churches and about 50,000 parishioners. To serve the people, each of the churches of the parish has Delegados de la Palabra (Delegates of the Word) who conduct Liturgy of the Word services every Thursday and Sunday. There are four ordained priests for the 87 churches.
Some wonder if it is true that the “laborers are few.” Maybe, the laborers are already here, but they are not welcomed to serve as ordained priests because of human-made rules. Perhaps when leaders are able to read the “sign of the times” and listen to the Holy Spirit, the laborers among us will be able to take Church positions currently closed to them. Who knows? God knows.
The photo above shows Fr. Carlos Lagos (left) and Fr. Sebastián Cruz in front of the Church of San Lorenzo in Alubarén on the feast of St. Lorenzo (Lawrence), August 10. Fr. Carlos is the pastor of the parish, and Fr. Sebastián is one of the three parochial vicars.
