Praying for Vocations!!!

In this past Sunday's gospel, Jesus sent the seventy two disciples ahead of him to prepare the towns that he intended to visit. The first thing Jesus said to them was this, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest" (Lk. 10). Surprisingly enough, the conclusion of the gospel for this Tuesday is exactly the same. Jesus was looking at the crowds and his heart was moved with pity because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus said, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest" (Mt. 9:38). Of course, you notice the difference. The passage is the same but two different gospels. Obviously this was an important statement because the two authors of these gospels kept it word for word. This statement still rings true today. The harvest is abundant but laborers are few. We need to ask the master, God, to send laborers into His harvest. That is our call to pray for vocations, namely to the priesthood and religious life. Ultimately we need to pray for ourselves because our main vocation is to discipleship. Let us pray that the Lord will give us the grace and strength that we need to proclaim the Good News and continue the mission of the church that has been entrusted to us. God Bless, Dear Friends!!!