June 16th
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Mk 9/36-10/8.Background
Some think that Jesus told this parable of the harvest at harvest time, perhaps in response to a remark from one of his followers about the fields being ready for the harvest. It is altogether possible because while there was a chronic oversupply of labor during most of the year in the Palestine of those days, there was an equally chronic shortage of workers during the harvest season when farmers had to get their crops out of the field before they either withered in the hot winds or were washed away by early rain and hail. The metaphor would fit the message of Jesus perfect: now is a time of great opportunity. Dependent as he is on human helpers, Jesus needs co-workers desperately. This could be a gospel story that suggests that we
need more priests and nuns (and of course we do) but it also and more importantly suggests that we are all coworkers of Jesus and he needs the help of all of us in his harvest.Story
Once upon a time in a certain parish there were many complaints about the quality of uniforms which the grammar school athletic teams wore. Parents said they were ashamed when they saw the tacky uniforms on the same fields of combat with the elegant uniforms from other schools. Look, said the pastor, I can spend a lot of money on sports uniforms only when I'm persuaded we're paying the salaries and benefits to the teachers and staff to which they're entitled. If you want to have some kind of benefit which will pay for the uniforms, that's fine with me, but don't expect the parish to pick up the tab. So a couple of parents organized a benefit. But most of the parents of young people on the team were not interested. It's the parish's job to provide our children with uniforms which are as classy as those from other parish's. Someone said but you are the parish. They dismissed that as silly. So there was no benefit and no new uniforms and continued complaints about the old ones. The pastor said, hey, if you won't help, what do you expect me to do. There are no free lunches and no free uniforms either. Nor can anyone, not even Jesus do it all by themselves.
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