The Vocation of those who believe in God

Last Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and it is in Him that we see the whole of God’s loving plan for humanity. God is all-powerful, a good Shepherd, a good Father, and God is love. Jesus lives with us and actively calls us to continue in our commitment to actively living the faith on our journey of life.

This Sunday’s Word proves God’s boundless love and concern for humankind. From the very beginning, God has always called and guided our ancestors on their journey to the true Promised Land. Through Moses, the people overcame Egyptian slavery and successfully entered the eternal land they had longed for. In the New Testament times, God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus, to be with humankind, inviting and teaching people to trust in God. Because it is only by trusting in God and being reconciled to His life, death, and resurrection that we have the eternal life that each of us hopes for. St Paul testifies that: “If we have been reconciled by the death of his Son, surely we may count on being saved by the life of his Son” (Romans 5:10).

This Sunday’s Gospel gives us more detail about what we need to do on our journey of faith. God gave us his son Jesus. Now, thanks to Jesus, He chose the twelve apostles as the foundation for the Church that Jesus himself created. This election was placed in God’s loving plan, although God still chose Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray Him.

These apostles were called by the Lord to go out and spread His Good News to people in all different regions, especially believers who were separated from the faith. Because God sees that people are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). However, when the time comes, Jesus sees humanity as a field of ripe golden fruit, strong before the storms of the world. The harvest time has arrived and we are invited to participate in the harvest. How happy are they to see the harvest, but the reapers are few, so the Lord grieves to see His workers so busy. Therefore, God wants to find a collaborator. So, who will stand to receive? God has chosen apostles to continue to lead His people right to the land He has promised, the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. In choosing the apostles, Jesus wanted to demonstrate that a vocation is not just a human’s job, but that it is God who is the starting point and it is he who calls them to follow in his footsteps. The right to only go to harvest fruit is the right of the owner of the orchard, so to, the right to go on a mission and preach the word of God is the right of those to whom the orchard has been given – you and I.

Each of us is called by God to be different harvesters. God calls and chooses all of us according to different vocations such as Married Life, Holy Orders, Religious Life, and Single Life. God continues to call us, whether young or old, different skin colours, different culture or wherever we are in life. Each of us has been baptised and is called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and the way of the Church, which is to work in evangelisation to those around us.

God did not send the apostles to pagan territory and any Samaritan town, but God wanted them to go to the lost sheep. Therefore, the Lord wants us to start with ourselves, and then to our families, our workplaces, our parishes, our diocese, and the people we meet in life. Finally, the word of God this Sunday invites us to recognise the very vocation we have and continue to live and bear witness to the Lord in our daily lives.

Have a great week and God Bless,