Come, Holy Spirit,
by whom is sanctified
every devout soul
who believes in Christ
to become a citizen
of the city of God.

Come, Holy Spirit,
make us receive
the movements of God,
place your fire within us,
enlighten us and raise us up to God.

— Saint Augustine (en. Ps. 45, 8 · Serm. 128, 4)

At that time, when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his fields”.

Then, calling his twelve disciples, he gave them power to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first of all, Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and his brother John, sons of Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor.

Jesus sent these twelve out with these instructions: “Do not go into pagan territory or enter any Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Go and proclaim along the way that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the lepers and the sick; raise the dead and cast out demons. You have received this power freely; use it, therefore, freely”.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Glory to you, Lord Jesus

Christ ardently desired that his work be fulfilled and was preparing to send out his labourers… He is going, then, to send labourers. One sows and another reaps. How is it that he has sent labourers where he has not sent sowers? Where has he sent the labourers? There where others had already laboured…

Who are these who laboured before? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Read the account of their labours: in all of them a prophecy of Christ is found; they, then, were the sowers. As for Moses and the other patriarchs, and all the prophets, what cold did they not endure in the time when they were sowing? Consequently, in Judea the harvest was ready. And one understands that the harvest was ripe at the moment when so many thousands of people brought the price of their goods and laid them at the feet of the apostles, and, unburdening their shoulders of the weight of this world, followed Christ. Truly, the harvest had come to its ripeness.

What is the result? From this harvest some grains were taken, they sowed the universe, and behold, another harvest arises destined to be gathered at the end of the ages… For the gathering of this harvest it will no longer be the apostles, but the angels who will be sent.

It is told that a wise man, while walking with his disciples, stopped before a small tree growing crooked among stones and undergrowth. One of the young men remarked that this tree would never grow large. The wise man answered him: “That is why I have chosen it”.

Months later, they returned to the same place and saw that the tree had grown strong, had grown tall and was spreading its branches vigorously. Then the wise man remarked with a smile: “I did not choose this tree because it was the strongest, but because it needed care. Now it will give shade to many others”.

In the same way, Jesus calls the Twelve not because they are the best, but because his love will transform them. He saw in them a possibility of life and mission.

Jesus first has compassion. He does not see numbers, but hearts; he does not see crowds, but lives that need to be healed and restored. He knows they need him, and it will be his disciples who collaborate with him in that mission.

Like that tree, in spite of our imperfections, God cares for us, strengthens us and feeds us. He accompanies us patiently in our growth. Nevertheless, we must let ourselves be completely transformed; otherwise, we will not come to fulfil our vocation.

Whoever lets himself be found and transformed by God in the depths of his heart ends up becoming an instrument of his love for others.

In the gaze of Jesus I discovered that I do not need to be strong all the time. For a long time I carried wounds, silences and a deep need for love that I often tried to hide.

That experience has taught me to look differently at those around me. When I meet people who are wounded, angry, or acting out of their own pain, I try to remember that I too have needed to be heard, understood and loved. Little by little, I have discovered that Jesus not only loves me in my fragility, but also calls me to learn from his gaze and to recognise in others a need for love as deep as my own.

Jesus constantly teaches me to look with his eyes and to offer others a little of the peace, the company and the mercy that he gives me each day. I try to do so in the hope that, through that encounter, they may discover that there is a Love greater than our wounds, our fragilities and our searching: God, the true Love of loves.

No one loves the peace of contemplation as much as I do.

There is nothing better, nothing sweeter than to devote oneself to searching the divine treasures, far from the noise of the world.

To devote oneself to contemplation is the best and the most delightful thing.

On the other hand, to preach, to admonish, to correct, to build up the Church, to attend to the concerns of others is an unbearable weight, a burden so heavy that it wearies greatly.

And who would not flee from such a burden?

Moreover, the responsibility of the Gospel terrifies me.

For this very reason I ask you, brothers, to lighten my burden, to lighten it by helping me to carry it.

How? By being good Christians…

— Saint Augustine (Serm. 339, 4)

In silence

we remain in his presence
… and we imagine

“When he saw the crowd, he had compassion on it.”

To have that gaze of Jesus,

able to see so deeply and so lovingly those around us.

Whom am I failing to see?

Who needs a look of compassion today?

“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.”

It is also a gaze into our own interior.

Every vocation is born of a heart touched by love.

Here I am, Lord.

“Today I feel compassion for…”

family, friends, people you have seen.

“I have received from God the gift of…”

life, an opportunity, a gesture.

Restless we go out;
in you we walk;
together we follow you.

Thank you, my Lord,
for all that you have granted me
and inspired in me at this moment.

I desire that my restless heart
not cease to burn
until finally
it finds you,
the one and true love.

May everything be
for the greater glory of your name,
all being one soul
and one heart
directed toward you,
our God.

Amen.

Prayer

For Vocations