As we celebrate the first Saturday devotion this morning in honor of Our Lady of Fatima, we also celebrate daily Mass for Saturday of the 4th week in Ordinary Time. We have a wonderful Gospel reading today about Jesus and his disciples serving in their mission and ministry. There is excitement about what Jesus and his disciples are doing, about the miracles and healings they are performing, about their proclamation of God’s kingdom. Yet, the crowds have been demanding so much of them, they are worn out, having little time to rest and even eat. I am sure the disciples were amazed at the new found fame and popularity, but it was probably taking a toll on them. Right now in ministry, many of us are stretched very thin. As the Gospels state, the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Just this past week, I have three masses at the Federal prison in Yazoo City, two mass at the state prison in Pearl, and Masses at St Joseph School in Madison and the Vicksburg Catholic schools as well, not to mention our different parish activities and liturgies. I love being a priest, I love all that I do, but it can be a lot sometimes, as you can imagine. We all need to strive for balance in our lives, to work hard for the kingdom of God, but also to have to for rest and prayer. Jesus and his disciples strived for balance in their lives; they took time to reflect on the meaning of what they were doing. Our actions are to be fruits of our faith, not to flow out of our frustrations and our emptiness.
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