Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Diocese of Covington

Father Michael Elmlinger

Guest

One of the greatest things that I was able to do as a seminarian was to be assigned to different parishes and to see more of the people in the diocese that I had not been able to see and meet before. On top of that, a great joy that I had was having the opportunity to express my gratitude, as well as all the other seminarians’ gratitude, to all the people of the diocese for all that they have done to support us during our time in seminary. I truly meant it when I said, “We cannot do this without you.” Without the support of the people in the diocese, it is difficult to say whether I would even be a priest at this time, because it was largely thanks to the prayers of the people of the diocese that I was able to hear the calling of the Lord in my life to be a priest.

That brings me to the Gospel for this weekend, where we hear that Jesus’s heart was “moved with pity for [the crowds] because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd” (9:36), showing the level of compassion that he has for them that the very depths of his being are stirred up by the fact that the people are missing a shepherd to lead them. This then leads him to give a commandment to the disciples: “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so, ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (9:37) The Lord wants to give his people a shepherd to lead them; he wants to give them priests who will offer sacrifice and act as a shepherd leading the sheep to safe pastures.

This is a commandment that Christ gives to all his disciples, including all of us to this very day. The Code of Canon Law, which binds all Catholics in the Latin Church, tells us that the entire Christian community (not just clergy) as a whole has the duty to foster vocations to the priesthood (cf. canon 233 §1), so that the needs of the People of God may be met, so that the sheep who are scattered may be brought back into the fold and led to the Heavenly Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. All of us bear the responsibility of praying to the Master of the harvest that he will send out laborers to this harvest. Not only that, but it is also partly by our prayers that men are able to hear the voice of the Lord calling them in their hearts to be priests.

I can say rather confidently that if it were not for the prayers of the People of God in our diocese in particular and throughout the world, that I likely would not have heard the voice of the Lord calling me to be a priest. If it was not for the support that I received from the People of God, then it is difficult to say that I would be a priest right now. For that support from all of you, I was, am, and will continue to be truly grateful to all of you.

However, our duty is not finished. Vocations to the priesthood are out there. The laborers for the harvest are out there. But they need our prayers and support in order to assist them in hearing the call of the Master of the harvest crying out to them and to respond to that call with a generous “Yes.”

My brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every day, “ask the Master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

Father Michael Elmlinger is a priest of the Diocese of Covington, Ky. Father Elmlinger is currently studying Canon Law at the University of St. Paul, Ottawa, Canada.