The Lord has given you a heart open to great horizons; do not be afraid to commit your life completely to the service of Christ and His Gospel! Listen to Him as He says again today: "The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few."

The lack of workers for God's harvest was already a challenge in Gospel times, even for Jesus Himself. "Beg the Harvest Master to send out laborers to gather His harvest" (Mt 9:38). He also teaches us today that with prayer we can and must influence the number of vocations.

Do not be afraid to go out into the streets and public places like the first apostles, who preached Christ and the good news of salvation in the squares of cities, towns, and villages. This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the time to preach it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern "metropolis." It is you who must "go out into the byroads" and invite everyone you meet to the banquet, which God has prepared for His people. The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference. It was never meant to be hidden away in private. It has to be put on a stand so that people may see its light and give praise to our heavenly Father.

In clearly detecting this vocation that comes from God, man experiences the sense of his own insufficiency. He even attempts to defend himself against the responsibility of this calling. And so, almost without wanting it, the calling becomes an interior dialogue with God and, at times, even results in becoming a battle with God. Faced with the hesitancy and difficulties human reason sets up, God offers the power of His grace. And by the power of this grace, man is able to fulfill his calling.