What would the world be like if all of us baptized Catholics put our mission and vocation into practice? “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Many baptized Catholics have the misconception that this mission and obligation is exclusively for priests and religious men and women. All baptized Catholics have the mission and obligation to bring the Good News of Jesus to all peoples, races, and nations. Catholicism is growing day by day and vocations to the consecrated and priestly life are decreasing. What is this phenomenon due to? Could it be that neither parents nor grandparents, encourage and instill this vocation in their children and grandchildren? Could it be that we have allowed ourselves to be dragged, led, and seduced by the pleasures that this world offers? Jesus anticipated this to his apostles and the seventy-two disciples, that there would be much work to be done and that very few would take this mission seriously. What are we baptized Catholics doing to continue with this commandment and mission that our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted to us? If we are not providing vocations to religious and priestly life, are we at least praying for more vocations to a certain vocation?
We have to remember that to those of us who are baptized Catholics, Jesus will ask us to account for what we did with our vocation and mission while we were in this world. Wherever we are, let us make the effort to spread the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ with words and actions. If each one of us put our grain of sand, everything would be different; we would have a more humanitarian, supportive, and sensitive world; loving and helping each other. Not all of us have the gift of evangelizing, catechizing, and preaching, but we all have the gift of preaching through our example. With our example of life, we say more than a thousand words.
Let’s see how Jesus moved and converted his followers not only with his words but above all with his example and lifestyle. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to give us not only the gift of the word but also the gift of our example to bring the Good News of Jesus to all the places where we move and live. Amen.
With love and respect,
Father Alberto Villafán, OFM.
Associate Pastor, Mission San Luis Rey Parish
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