Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…'”<\/span><\/em> (Matthew 9:35-37)<\/p>\nJesus has compassion for the multitude, who are “like sheep without a shepherd,” a term that means “people of the land.” The Pharisees used this expression as a form of contempt. It designated the poor, the ignorant, those who did not know the law well enough to observe it, and besides, could not afford to observe it. It is to these crowds\u2014the harassed and bothered poor\u2014that Jesus announces the Reign of God.<\/p>\n
Jesus demands total change or conversion. Christians must continually re-orient themselves toward God and neighbour. We struggle to change those conditions in our own life and in the world, in human history, that separate human beings from God and from each other. Such a radical turnabout\u2014a revolution\u2014cannot be accomplished by one’s own efforts. It requires the power of God. That is the reason Jesus preaches the Reign of God.<\/p>\n
To begin a new year is to remind ourselves that we as Christians are opposed to all forms of an old world that closes itself on the future. We believe in a future when \u201che will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the former world has passed away. (Apocalypse 21.4)<\/em> To believe in that possibility is to become engaged in the task of making the world new.<\/p>\n\n
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Bishop George Marskell died in the city of Itacoatiara, Amazonas, Brazil, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was sent to the heart of the Amazon jungle in 1961 and served there for 38 years. George lived the option for the poor and his pastoral mission was to empower the people, peasant farmers and fisherfolk, to recognize their dignity as sons and daughters of God. In his Will he had written, \u201c I want to be buried in the cemetery among the people I was called by God, in His love, to serve.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A reflection by Bishop George Marskell, S.F.M. (1935-1998) New Year\u2019s Eve used to be a very special night for me when I was growing up in Hamilton, Ontario. My Dad and I would leave all the company in the living room, put on our coats and go outside through the back door. We would walk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5157"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5173,"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5157\/revisions\/5173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}