Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The vocation of the four apostles, which is at the heart of today's Gospel, is a call to reflect on our own vocation to imitate Christ.

The account of the apostolic vocation that we have just heard, shows us three elements: the first, the call by Jesus: "Come with me"; second, the response of those called: "They instantly, leaving the nets behind, followed him" and third, the mission for those who are called, "I will make you fishers of men."

In the Bible every vocation starts from a call from God. There are examples in the history of salvation: that of Abraham, of Moses, of the prophets, of St. Paul and all the apostles. It is always a personal call, addressed to the innermost consciousness of the individual that radically transforms his existence. Sometimes, God gives a new name to the elect, such as Abraham, Jacob or Simon, then called Peter. And that vocation is always God's initiative, it His choice by grace, because God chooses those He wills.

But that personal call is not only addressed to the group of the twelve apostles, or the widest circle of the first disciples, but also to every human being, priest or layman, contemporary with Jesus or after Him. Like this each of us also, in our baptism, was called, for the first time, to imitate Christ. And since then, God repeatedly has renewed this vocational call. Certainly, He does not give everyone the vocation to follow Christ like the apostles and disciples, like priests and religious, who put at His service all that they are and have. God calls many to the vocation of lay people and married life. They are equal to each other with regard to their specific tasks and responsibilities, they are equal in terms of attitude of dedication to faith and charity, of being imitators of Christ. Christ calls us all.

Many aren’t aware as immediately of their vocation, as the apostles of today's Gospel are. Often, we are afraid and try to shun it, like some of the prophets. God expects an adequate response from each one of us. Are we ready to have our lives radically changed, are we ready to dedicate our whole selves to God?

If “there are many called, but few are chosen" - as the Bible puts it - it is because many of us, even today, do not accept their vocation to the imitation of Christ. I have heard that many among us priests have rejected assignments, have even rejected a calling to be a bishop or an abbot in charge of a monastery. Some feel ill equipped to answer the call.

Every day again we have to give our answer to God's call, even when we do not understand it, even when it is difficult for us to accept it. And what is most difficult for us to accept, in our lives, is the suffering of the cross. However, it is God himself who commands, implores us to take up our crosses and follow. If we refuse our response to this personal call from God, it cannot be achieved, an authentic Christian life.

To live faithfully our proper vocation to the imitation of Christ, that particular and personal mission, must always take the shape anew in Christ. Thus in the questions and doubts of our life, we must stand before our Lord and receive his presence. We are gathered in this Eucharist as a community of called and elected. Here we participate in the same table, we feed ourselves with the same body of Jesus Christ, and we set out - following in His footsteps - towards the fulfillment of our vocations, a life that mirrors Christ and follows Him home to God in heaven.

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