Carmelite homily for Saturday, December 7, 2019 – Lectionary 180
In today’s Gospel Jesus looks over the crowds and says; wow, they’re like sheep without a shepherd. So he summons the twelve apostles and sends them forth to work, saying, go to the lost sheep and proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons, and remember, without cost you have received so without cost you are to give. I think Therese understands this well. In her autobiography, A Story of a Soul, she says, “In the evening of life I shall appear before you with empty hands for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works; I work for love alone.” I think that’s why we work, we do, we serve the Lord. Not for accolades or praise or any other form of payment – whatever those are – but for love alone.