Scripture Scribbles: June 14, 2026
the Gospel
Matthew 9:36—10:8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits
to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,
“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
the scribble
When I stop to ponder it, I am overwhelmed by God’s generosity in inviting each of us into the labor of the harvest. Our God is the God of all things, the One who speaks the universe into existence. He lacks nothing and needs nothing. And yet he makes each of us to reveal his love in an unrepeatable way. He invites each of us to labor with him to heal and comfort the troubled and abandoned.
In today’s Gospel we read that God’s heart, moving with pity, calls us into the work. The response of the heart of God to the pain of his beloved is to invite us to minister through and with him.
The lives of the saints are a beautiful witness to this: an endless array of personalities, life circumstances and vocations and yet one shared mission - to love God and do his will.
Isn’t it wild to ponder that the Lord invites us to do his work of love, mercy and healing with him?
The work, the harvest, we read about in today’s Gospel isn’t in the past.
We are called to minister to the troubled and abandoned today. For most of us, this will happen in the hidden love we live in daily life in our families and communities, in the way we are at peace despite challenging circumstances, in the way we are joyful as we work, in the way we are present to those God puts in our paths.
When I ponder the times God has allowed me to be a conduit for his love and mercy for another soul, my heart is filled with gratitude…and a deep desire to be attentive to him so that I go where he is sending me, speak his words, convey, his love.
What a grace and delight to be part of the great story that God is writing.
Today I am praying for the master of the harvest to send more laborers for the harvest, for more souls aflame with his love to be drawing in the broken and suffering in the unique and beautiful way we are each made to do.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
Today’s devotion was written by Lucia Parker DeMarco
