The gospel message this Sunday recalls the Lord choosing his twelve apostles. He says, “The harvest is great but the laborers are few.”

Someone confided to his friend that there will always be “few laborers” if the Catholic Church does not abolish it’s rule of celibacy.

To which the friend replied: “But there’s already a new rule allowing priests to get married.” “What…there’s a new rule now?”

“Yes,” he retorted, “but there are two conditions.” “And what are those conditions?” “The first,” the other said, “is that the priest must be 80 years old and above.” “But at 80 and above, he’s too old!” he retorted. “And what’s the second?” “The priest must get a written parental consent.”

That’s a joke, of course, because at 80 and above, the parents are already long dead!

The band of fishermen Jesus called in the gospel (cf. Matthew 10, 1 ff.) formed the core group on which Christ founded his Church.

Unfortunately, many have the idea that the call of Christ is addressed only to the apostles and their successors: Bishops, priests and religious. That's not true. Every baptized Christian is a priest, participating in the common priesthood of the Church. The only difference is that the clerics are full-time and have religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

The “Decree on the Laity” of Vatican II states: “Incorporated into Christ’s Mystical Body through baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through confirmation, the laity are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord himself.”

How can you be an apostle of Christ in our modern time? You can do this concretely by participating in church works in your parish. Today there are numerous lay Catholics who sacrifice time, talent and treasure (the 3 Ts), rendering services as lay ministers, lectors, collectors, choir members, catechists, social workers, and others.

Also, many are involved in church organizations like the Legion of Mary, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women’s League and renewal communities like the Marriage Encounter, Couples for Christ, PREX.

The most basic and effective form of being an apostle today is the “testimony” of Christian living or practising the values Christ taught like honesty, justice, love, peace, forgiveness.

British Malcolm Muggeridge was a TV journalist celebrity who did not care much about God and religion. He did something he swore he would never do — become a Catholic.

What led to his conversion? He had an assignment to write about the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Travelling to India, Muggeridge thought the trip was just the usual work but the amazing thing was, in the course of his talks and days of observation of the kindly nun, he experienced a change of heart.

Muggeridge said: “Words cannot express how much I owe her. She showed me Christianity in action. She showed me the power of love.”

Ask yourself: Would lukewarm and non-Catholics be edified by your way of living so that they, too, would want to become active and dedicated Catholics?

Or, would people be turned off from the Catholic faith if they see in you the opposite of what Christ taught or see, for instance, parish organizations becoming places of jealousies, intrigues and gossips?

In his encyclical “Redemptoris Missio,” St. Pope John Paul II said: “People today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers…The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of evangelization.”

Support vocations. One way of helping the Church to have more religious vocations is to support seminarians who are financially hard-up while undergoing their studies and formation.

Nothing is more noble than to nurture the vocation of future priests and bishops. Email: [email protected].