July 7, 2026 // Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 9:32-38

Reflect on the Word // 

We drove home in tense silence, Jesus and I. The Gospel at daily Mass had proclaimed “the harvest is abundant” but mine was nowhere in sight (Matthew 9:37). It had been two years since God gave harvest as my word for the year, but as far as I could tell, there was no abundance in sight. 

Frustrated, I turned to the Lord and vented my anger and disappointment. Did I misunderstand? Why do You promise good things if You’re not going to deliver? How much longer, Lord?

Like me, I’m sure you have many needs and desires. Intentions you’ve been praying for for years, hopes you have yet to see realized. But as seasons change and years go by without the precious fruit you’ve been waiting for, it’s natural for resentment to build or trust to wane. 

It is here, in the wilderness of faith, that Jesus’ heart is “moved with pity,” not only for the crowds in today’s Gospel, but for us. Like them, we so often feel “troubled and abandoned” (Matthew 9:36). 

But when Jesus speaks of a harvest, He means what He says. There is a field to be cultivated and abundant fruit to be borne, in the world, in the Church, and in our souls. The harvest Jesus is bringing about is more plentiful than we can imagine—and that kind of yield takes time. 

From our limited perspective, we expect the harvest to happen in a moment—a positive pregnancy test, a job offer, the remission of an illness. But harvest is a process, not an event. And that process is unfolding in every season. We’re so far removed from an agrarian society that we forget: different plants yield fruit in different seasons, but something is always in bloom. 

The evidence of harvest is all around, both now and not yet, because His love and provision are always in season—if only we have eyes to see it.

Relate to the Lord // Where is the harvest at hand in your life today?