‘The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few…’ the Lord tells us in the Gospel this Sunday. The harvest is the world, in the Lord’s meaning, and the labourers are each of us. Farmers would tell us that harvesting comes after a long process of ploughing the earth and sowing the seed, the seed

germinating and green shoots appearing, and then the stalks of wheat and ears of corn. This mirrors the way in which God has spoken to mankind across the millennia: through the Creation of the Universe and the beauty of our world, through the history of Israel, His Chosen People, through the

words and writings of the Prophets, and supremely God has spoken through His Word, Jesus Christ. The field of the world, prepared by the many ways God has spoken to us, is ripe for harvest, that is, ready to hear the ultimate and definitive message of God, told to us in the Person, Life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord. It is said that St Francis of Assisi once remarked that ‘Your life may be the only Gospel people read.’ It shows how incumbent it is upon all of us to labour in our daily lives to show the love of God to others and to be bold in speaking about our faith in Christ. We are all labourers. The harvest is the world.