Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint  Luke 6, 12-19

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

Disciples and missionaries

1.  Pray. Luke shows us that before making an important decision in life we must pray. I’ll never get tired of repeating this because during our lives we will have to make many important decisions and every decision has its risks, especially when we must choose our vocation or our life partner. If you are still not married and you know your calling is to get married, it would be a good idea to start praying to ask the Holy Spirit to show you who the person that God has chosen for your life is. And if you have chosen a religious vocation, it’s good to start praying so that God might show you who is going to accompany you in that mission. That is why it is important to take your time, take some distance, look hard, and pray. After that, decide and choose.

2.  The disciples. If we were to see the résumé of each of the disciples, we would see that each one is very different from the other. This is why the call from Jesus is so personal and unique. There are no specific requirements to be called by Jesus. Rather, it is simply coming into contact with our Lord and Master and knowing that we have been chosen by Him. I can assure you that you will be aware of the moment when Jesus calls you, and I’m not only referring to a religious calling, I mean the great vocation that each of us has: Christian life. Your heart will burn when you become aware that He has chosen you.

3.  The mission. The mission that Jesus points us towards is this: healing and relieving. You and I, who are part of the family of the Church, have been called by Him to heal and to relieve. You were chosen by God to be a ‘Church in action.’ Don’t sit down to have a cup of tea and talk about theology, but instead go out and announce that Jesus is alive. Evangelize with a smile and with your heart full of the Holy Spirit. Here’s a tip. The fire you need is found in Eucharistic adoration.

So, come on!  Remember Heaven is our goal! God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.