Mt 9:36-10:8
A little girl was saying her night prayers with her mom at her side. “God bless mommy and daddy and Nana. And please, God, don't let Stevie shoot any more little birds with his BB gun. I like Stevie because he plays with me when nobody else will, but I don't want him to shoot the birds. Okay, God? Amen.” Crawling into bed she said, “Now I know Stevie won't shoot any more birds.”
“Because God will answer your prayer?” asked her mom.
“Yeh!” she said with a smile, “and because, before I came to bed, I threw his BB gun in the pool.”
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That little girl knew how to make things happen! We don't always do that.
In Sunday's gospel, Jesus was saddened by the crowds that were so obviously troubled and aimless, “like sheep without a shepherd.” So he said to his followers, “Ask the Lord to send out laborers for this harvest.” We don't know what his followers actually prayed for. But if they were like us, they probably prayed, very sincerely, that just the right persons would come along to solve the problem. And that wasn't what Jesus had in mind. The prayer he wanted to hear from each of them was, “Lord, send me. With your help, I know I can do what needs to be done.” That's the prayer that God wants to hear from us too!
The Shakers have a wise saying about prayer: “Hearts to God; hands to work.” That is, get God's vision into your heart, and then work without ceasing till you've made it happen!
There's so much in this world that needs fixing and changing, and we're the ones that God made to do it. He's spelled out his expectations for each of us by giving us life at a specific time and place and by giving us each a specific set of gifts. These are the tools for the special work that's waiting for us in our families, our community, our church, and so many other places. That work won't get done if we pray but don't act. It also won't get done if we act without praying first, because we'll get caught up in our own agenda instead of God's big vision.
We Catholics have an old saying: “Pray as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on you.” In his own time, God will bless your efforts and bring forth much fruit, and much of that fruit will be a surprise!
