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Gospel Reading for October 01, 2026 – Luke 10: 1-12
FAMILY UPBRINGING
Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”
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“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Having an abundant harvest is such a good thing for farmers. For them, it is a windfall, especially if the weather had not been good in the months leading up to the harvest. All they have to do is get more laborers to help with the harvest.
When we translate this into the Gospel of today, it means that there are many people who can enter God’s Kingdom, but he needs priests, religious, church workers and the faithful, who will help bring in the harvest.
Nowadays, vocations to the priesthood and religious life are dwindling in many parts of the world. Is it because people have become too busy with commerce and technology, making the priesthood or religious life unattractive? Or perhaps a greater reason is FAMILY UPBRINGING.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, or St. Therese of Lisieux, whose memorial we celebrate today, learned her faith at home, with her parents as her primary catechists. They fostered a strong environment of prayer, sacrifice, and devotion. Her father, who was a watchmaker, and her mother, who was a lace maker, lived lives of intense prayer, charity, and active faith.
When parents are witnesses to a deep faith in God, their children, who naturally look up to them, will be inspired. As a matter of fact, of the nine children in their family, five entered the religious life.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, inspire us to deepen our relationship with God by embracing your spiritual approach called the “Little Way”—doing ordinary, everyday tasks with extraordinary love, patience, and absolute trust in God as a merciful Father. Amen.
