In today's Gospel, Jesus expresses his desire to involve people in his own mission. He said, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” God asks for our help to make his work of proclaiming the Good News to the world.

Why is that? Is he not almighty? Can he not do the work of salvation on his own? Does he really need me or you? Jesus asked us for help, not because he is unable to do it alone. Rather, he desires to share his mission with us so that we, too, feel responsible for proclaiming the Good News to the world. It is the recognition of our dignity: we are children of our Heavenly Father, and for this reason, he involves us in his precious and delicate plan of salvation. God calls us, therefore, not because he is unable to work alone, but because he wants us to be aware of our dignity as his beloved children.

What are we asked to do? We might think that the first thing is to preach or to help, but that’s not the case. The Gospel says that we must pray first: “… ask the master of the harvest...” This prayer reminds us that God is pleased when we share the responsibility of evangelization with our brothers and sisters. Furthermore, this prayer makes us aware that any new vocation comes from our Lord, rather than from our own efforts.

The gospel also says that it is not always easy to be his disciples. The gospel talks about dangers and hardships. Even if the disciples do good work, people may not accept them: “Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand!” The disciples shake off the dust of blame and complaint. They do not want to carry any grudges in their hearts. They regain peace because they have done their part: they have offered a beautiful gift, regardless of the response. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow, the same people will be willing to receive it.

Finally, the mission is fulfilling. God promises joy to the missionaries: “rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Mission should bring joy to the hearts of the disciples. This joy possibly comes from a successful missionary work and the fruits of conversion. However, the gospel says that a deeper communion with the Lord is the true source of this joy. Being a missionary, above all, means becoming closer to Jesus. This is the real, permanent reward of being a missionary.

An old missionary in Cameroon was once interviewed about his missionary life. He was a pioneer who started his mission from scratch amid many difficulties. Because of this, he said: “In my many years of missionary work, I suffered a lot and experienced many obstacles, trials, and problems. So, I know that I had many difficulties. However, - he said - if you ask me now what these difficulties were… honestly, I must admit that I cannot mention them because… I have already forgotten them all.” Evidently, his missionary life allowed him to experience something far greater than any difficulty: the communion with the Lord.