Commitment (2026-06-14, __ 11th Sunday)

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[11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings:  Exodus 19:2-6a, Psalm 100, Romans 5:6-11, Matthew 9:36—10:8.]

1. Sheep Without a Shepherd

When Jesus sees the crowds in today's Gospel, He doesn't look past them. He sees them.

St. Matthew tells us that His heart was moved with pity because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

Who are the shepherds in our lives today?

We're not living in sheep fields, but there are many voices competing for our attention. Advertisers, social media, entertainment, politicians, and even sports all invite us to follow them. Many of those voices want something from us. They want our attention, our loyalty, our money, or our time.

Jesus is different.

Jesus does not come to exploit us.

He comes first to give Himself to us.

He sees our wounds, our struggles, and our sins.

And then He says:

"The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few."

The problem is not that there is no work to do.

The problem is that too few disciples are willing to enter the harvest.

2. A Lesson From a Coach

With the World Cup beginning and other sporting events filling the headlines, many people are thinking about sports.

Sports can teach us valuable lessons if we pay attention.

When I was in college, I volunteered as a sports writer for our student newspaper. Eventually I was assigned to cover the men's basketball team.

The coach was one of the most successful coaches in Division III basketball.

One day he challenged me in a way I never forgot.

He said, "Jim, your articles matter. What you write and what you say affect whether people come to the games."

I had never thought about it that way.

I thought I was simply writing articles.

But he wasn't merely giving me instructions.

He was trying to form me.

That's why he sent me to observe a veteran reporter named Arthur.

After a victory, Arthur asked the coach a question that has stayed with me ever since:

"Is there a danger of complacency when a team is on a long winning streak?"

It was a positive question.

But it was also a challenging question.

It made people think.

There was something else about that coach that stayed with me.

One Sunday morning I needed to reach him about an article. He had told me to call him at home.

I called.

No answer.

I knew where he was.

He was at church.

The team had played an important game the night before.

Yet Sunday morning still belonged to God.

He never preached a sermon to me.

He simply showed me by his example that sports matter, but they are not everything.

And in many ways, that is what Jesus is doing with His disciples.

He is not simply giving them orders.

He is forming them.

He is teaching them how to see people as He sees them.

And He is teaching them that what they do matters because the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few.

3. Saved by Grace, Not by Success

St. Paul writes in today's second reading:

"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Salvation does not begin with our success.

It begins with God's grace.

Christ did not wait for us to become holy before He loved us.

He died for us while we were still sinners.

That is why achievement does not save us.

Success does not save us.

Christ saves us.

In the first reading, God calls Israel His treasured possession.

Before He gives them a mission, He first makes them His people.

Before Christ sends us into the harvest, He first calls us to Himself.

4. The Church as Christ's Team

The Church is not simply a collection of isolated individuals.

It is a people.

A communion.

A family.

The virtues often learned on a good team can help us live as disciples:

Humility.

Perseverance.

Teachability.

Sacrifice.

Concern for others.

These virtues do not replace grace.

They help us cooperate with grace.

St. John Chrysostom once wrote that when the strong are joined to the weak, the strong support the weak and do not allow them to perish.

That is what a good team does.

And that is what the Church is supposed to do.

The strong support the weak.

The discouraged are encouraged.

The sinner is called back to mercy.

The lonely are welcomed into communion.

5. From Complacency to Commitment

And so we return to that question:

"Is there a danger of complacency?"

That question belongs not only to athletes.

It belongs to every disciple.

If things are going well, have I forgotten gratitude?

Have I recognized my blessings as gifts from God?

If things are difficult, have I surrendered to discouragement?

Have I avoided repentance?

Have I stopped trying to grow?

Because complacency leaves the harvest unworked.

It leaves virtues untested.

It leaves successes unacknowledged as gifts of God's grace.

But commitment does the opposite.

Commitment enters the harvest and goes to work.

Commitment tests and strengthens virtue.

Commitment recognizes success as a gift from God.

Commitment admits sin, seeks forgiveness, and begins again.

And that is what Christ asks of us today.

Not perfection.

Not flawless performance.

Commitment.

A commitment to prayer.

A commitment to repentance.

A commitment to charity.

A commitment to serving others.

For the harvest is plentiful, and Christ is still calling laborers today.

You are one of those laborers.

And the vineyard to which He sends you is not somewhere far away.

It is your home.

Your family.

Your workplace.

Your classroom.

Your neighborhood.

It is every place where God has planted you and every person whom God has entrusted to your care.

That is the vineyard to which Christ is calling you today.