I come from a long line of farmers – crop and animal. Our dad owned feed and grain mills in Centerburg and Croton. Depending on what was on the farm that season, he was the Corn King, Bean Baron, Pork Prince, etc.
Food was and still is the primary concern for our family. Food for us and food for our neighbors. Mom canned more than 1,000 jars of vegetables every year – much more than our family of five could consume. However, most of the shelves were empty every fall. Many baskets of vegetables and meats were delivered to those in need in such a way that their dignity was preserved.
Mom and a local computer store owner provided food to hundreds of families. Mom, as the Salvation Army person, would fill out a form, the family would take it to the computer store and food would be put in computer bags so others didn’t know they were receiving food.
After our parents both passed, my siblings and I started a family foundation to provide food during school breaks to families who qualified for free or reduced-priced school meals. We provide three meals and a healthy snack for each member of the family for every day away from school. The Centerburg community supported this initial initiative and slowly took over the responsibility for food distribution and created a pantry that provides food when needed. I now am on the governing board only as a family representative with voice but no vote. I love Centerburg.
For decades, we have known that there is more than enough food to go around. The problem is in the distribution. The same goes for love. To start with, God’s love is limitless! Christ’s message was to love one another. But that distribution thing keeps getting in the way. “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9:37) Verse 38 says, “so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Jesus does that in Matthew 10 when he summons his 12 disciples and charges them to “go rather to the lost sheep … ” Are not we called to do the same at the end of each Mass? “The Mass has ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
He also lets the disciples know that He is sending them like sheep in the midst of wolves. He also reminds that them to “not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say … For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Again, we are given the same mission. In this polarized environment, we are in the midst of wolves who do not want to hear Christ’s message to love one another.
In reflecting on these things my mind turns to the judgment of the nations in Matthew 25, I must mention the judgment of the nations at the end of Matthew 25. Christ will come again to sort the sheep from the goats. (In this context, goat does not mean greatest of all time.) The sheep feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison.
I have grown to realize that the best thing Jesus did for me was help me recognize that helping others is helping myself. Showing kindness, sharing a kind word, helping to improve the lives of those around me is what makes for a better world. “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” He tells the 72 before they set out. The kingdom of God is here and everywhere. We are called to make our little slice of heaven better for us all. When we do this, we all reap the benefits.
This fall, what kind of harvest are you reaping for Christ?
