The Work of Today

By: Rick Hernandez

I was at Mass on Sunday, at our parish of Saint Peter the Apostle, when I felt compelled to look around. I saw many people—most I knew only by sight—but there were also many I knew well, for they have been here since the founding of our parish in 2008 and now serve as elders, leading many of our parish ministries. We have come to know them well, ever since they first welcomed me and my family when we moved to the area in 2017. I can only imagine what those first parishioners—those missionary disciples who helped plant and nurture this community—must feel as they look upon such a large and beautiful congregation gathered at our parish today. I cherish that we get to witness and experience this—for it is a true gift of grace: to see some of the fruit of our efforts while still on this earth.
 
There was one face missing in the crowd, and my heart skipped a bit. We recently lost a dear parishioner and sister in Christ. Our dear Kathy was the first person to welcome and invite my family to participate in all that was happening at Saint Peter’s. Because of her, we were able to meet many of our brothers and sisters in the parish. Kathy was truly a good steward of Christ’s fields, a faithful disciple who was never afraid to work for the good of others. She understood people well, and was caring, present in the moment, understanding, and encouraging, and she did these things because she understood that her love of Christ will live on through those she tended.
 
It is part of our mission to pass on our experience, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, for we are not going to live forever on this earth. As the keepers of the Lord's earthly fields, there is a time to plant the seeds and a time to tend the saplings—just as there is a time to watch them grow, and a time to gather the harvest. But we will not always be here to work, or even to witness, every harvest.
 
Eventually, we will no longer be the laborers at harvest time. Yet we pray that the work of our hands will remain visible to those who understand, to those who follow. At the end of our days, the Lord of the fields will show us every harvest—the fruit of the labor of our hands. Will He find us to have been good and faithful servants, good stewards of His fields?
 
It may not be obvious to many of us, but we are all called to this missionary discipleship. It is our responsibility to work His fields and to train those who follow, so that they may continue the labor of love, bearing fruit for Him who entrusted us with the fields and who guides our hands, hearts, and minds.
 
Our missionary discipleship will never be fully complete—not until the end of the age, when the wheat will be separated from the chaff, and each of us will receive our final recompense: either the joy of Heaven or the despair of Hell. But that time of sorting is yet to come, while our time to labor is now. In this very instant, we can choose to heed the call to work the fields, to care for the needs of the many—including ourselves. We pray for what is needed today, for the grace we receive is given for today—for the "now"—not for the "later". Today is not tomorrow, and for some, tomorrow will not come.
 
Tomorrow will take care of itself if we do the right things today. If we tend the fields faithfully, the fields will yield as expected.
 
Our Lord is telling us that the time for planting is now. The time to tend the seedlings is this very moment. The time to lovingly care for others, and to humbly learn to love ourselves—as seen through the eyes of our Lord—is today. Let us take advantage of the time we have been given and use it to tend lovingly to Christ in our brothers and sisters.
 
We miss our dear Kathy already, but by following her example, may we—whom she so lovingly tended—learn to live out our mission today, just as she did. May we be Eucharist to those who see and interact with us today—because we what we have is today, and tomorrow is not assured.
 
Let us pray: Lord of the Harvest, help us to be your faithful laborers. May we tend to Your fields with loving care, present in the now, living in the Hope of Your Kingdom, with as much Love, Mercy, and Compassion as we are able to muster from Your Grace gifted to us. May all your faithfully departed, be able to see all the wondrous works You accomplished through their hands. Amen.

Rick Hernandez

Rick Hernandez is a commonsense Catholic, Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament, and a Director for Elisheba House. He lives in Trinity, Florida, with his wife Ivonne and their children. He also writes for the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament's Daily Eucharistic Reflections and for Catholicmom.com.