From Father Joe

From the beginning, God consistently calls people to spread His Word. In the Old Testament, prophets and leaders like Moses listened to God's instructions and then shared them with God's people. In today's Gospel, Jesus shares His mission with twelve apostles (which means "one who is sent") to cure the sick, cleanse the impure, cast out evil, raise the dead; signs that Jesus has already been doing for the Kingdom of God. The work of Christ is handed down to His followers. As Jesus sent His disciples to continue His work and mission, so too the Church throughout the ages is sent by Jesus. The Church is His continuing presence on earth. Every member of the Church is sent by Jesus to contribute to this mission. In the 1800's, Saint John Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia, taught that every human being has a mission and a purpose in life. Saint John Neumann wrote: "Everyone who breathes, high and low, educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not born at random. God creates every soul for a purpose. He deigns to need every one of us to labor for Him." The call to spread God's Word, God's Kingdom is equally needed today. No disciple of Christ is excused from His mission. Individually and collectively, our presence and labors must reflect our belief in the Gospel…to this and the next generation. "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few."