Jun 18 Sun
The Gospel of the Mass tells us (Mt 9:36-10:8) that the Lord was filled with compassion when he saw the crowds, because they were mistreated and dejected like sheep without a shepherd, deeply disoriented. Their shepherds, instead of guiding and caring for them, led them astray and behaved more like wolves than shepherds. Jesus said to the apostles: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

As today, the laborers are few in proportion to the task: so many disoriented people, empty of God and filled only with material goods or the desire to have them. There is an urgent need for joyful, effective, simple Christians, faithful to the Church, aware of what they have in their hands. Today we can ask ourselves: what have I done today to make God known? to whom have I spoken about Christ today? am I concerned about the salvation of those around me? am I aware that many would come to the Lord if I were bolder and more exemplary in the fulfillment of my duties?

There are many excuses for not bringing others to Christ: lack of means, insufficient preparation, lack of time, or the enormity of the distances of the big city in which we live. Yet we should all fulfill what depends on us. And we want to be faithful to the Lord: to carry out what is in our hands. "Prayer is the most effective means of winning new apostles" (St Josemaría), of getting many to discover the Christian vocation to which God is calling them. The eagerness for vocations must be translated, in the first place, into a continuous, confident and humble petition. And if we turn to the Lord in petition for committed vocations, we ourselves will feel called to participate much more boldly in this apostolic work, in addition to obtaining from the Lord workers for his field.

Jesus’ arrival, all apostolic work, is to be prepared by those who have been sent, by those who already follow him. The Lord, who could do everything personally, wants to need disciples like you who go before him to the cities, to the villages, to the factories, to the universities. We cannot forget that God calls many. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to know how to promote and encourage many to follow him, people we see every day. Let us ask Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, to help us formulate a concrete intention to be an instrument so that many may correspond to the call of her Son.