Matthew 9:38
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."
One of my favorite moments in the entire Harry Potter series is at the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban when Harry is standing in the forest watching his godfather be attacked by dementors. Harry is not helping because he has briefly been to the future and seen this moment from a different angle – he already knows someone will come to help. He sits and waits expectantly for his hero to come (namely, his dad), but it's taking too long and his godfather is dying. He finally realizes that he must have seen himself, not his dad, and he conjures from within himself the most powerful burst of light and goodness imaginable to dispel the dark dementors and save his suffering godfather.
Friends, this is us, waiting in today's darkness for someone else to come. I keep looking around for someone else, for St. Francis of Assisi to be a peacemaker in the midst of all the division. I keep waiting for someone else to stand up alongside the young people protesting in the streets and lead them in the peaceful but challenging work of rooting out racism – surely Martin Luther King, Jr. or St. Martin de Porres will show up again! Of course, St. Damien of Molokai or St. Teresa of Calcutta will come take care of the coronavirus patients for us. But they aren't coming.
Why not? Because God wants new saints to rise up. Right here, right now. We, the baptized People of God, are the saints of today. God wants you to become the saint that is you. We need a new generation of peacemakers. We need people who are unafraid – smart and safe, but also unafraid – to live the Gospel and love their neighbors, despite disease, fear of being outcast, or even death. Jesus is calling his disciples to step up – no more mediocrity! No more looking around for saints to show up. It's time to be saints ourselves.
What am I afraid of or what is holding me back from being the saint God made me to be?
Jesus, look with kindness and pour out your grace upon me, that I would cast off all fear and pursue holiness and sainthood.
Get to know our writers! Today's reflection was written by:
Mike Buckler
Did you know...
Mike Buckler has a passion for Jesus, basketball, and fair trade coffee. He has been a youth ministry leader for twenty years, with thirteen of those as a full-time youth minister in a parish. Mike now serves in the Diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. He and his wife Megan live in Wesley Chapel with their four children.
