Vocations Talk

Based on an awesome retreat given by the Missionary servants of the Poor of the Third World:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28820521/Poster-Retreat-May-2010

God wants to restore the image of Christ in our hearts. Sin hinders our relationship with God. The
grace of God is a gift of God and an initiative of God without which nothing can happen. Our
freedom is to accept salvation freely by being open to the gift of grace for salvation. The event of
grace is possible by the mystery of the incarnation. The concept that Jesus Christ is true God and
true man is difficult to understand. He had a human intelligence and a human will. But he had a
human will and a divine will. He had a divine intelligence and a human intelligence. How can the
two wills co-operate? In every moment in his life, Jesus said yes to the divine will. In every
moment we too should accept the will of God. The nature of sin is that it obscures and distorts the
will. The Blessed Virgin Mary helps us to see the importance of the will of God. Mary never moved
away from the will of God. Mary had a moral harmony in which the will of God and will of Mary
were united. She is an intercessor of grace for the whole world. Every time we move away from
God we are an obstacle of grace being given to the world.

When we talk about economy in theology, we are talking about the way in which God gives his
grace. God is sustaining and promoting his grace. God wants us to be co-operators in redemption.
The task of collaboration is given to the whole of humanity. God sustains and promotes his grace
with the help of human hands. God wants a response in love as a way to receive salvation. With acts
of obedience we hear the voice of conscience in our heart. The economy in theology is sacramental.
God proposes and stimulates a relationship but never imposes. God makes us co-operators of our
own salvation. This is the way he approaches free people. When children go to the sea, they do not
want their parents to make the sandcastles with them. A child needs help to make a sandcastle, even
is there is a worse result, it is better to work with the child to make the sandcastle. God works in the
same way. God is not a businessman. You cannot make a measurement of the effectiveness of the
Christian life what is seen only on the outside. Sometimes the fruits of love are invisible in poor
people, the suffering, dying and violent people. The holy is also in the humble and hidden as well as
the beautiful and amazing. The Church sees this. Jesus never wanted to be successful in world, but
stick to the truths of faith. What is most important is to be graceful and be faithful to God the father.
The grace of God is never given to one person for himself. Salvation occurs by sharing of members
of the Church. Religious make their life an offering for God and the Church. One will never find
grace without the cross. Suffering is not in vain. Some have spent all their time suffering. Some
blame God for the suffering of the world. But it is because of the devil. God gives men and women
an acceptance of suffering as this can be for the good of all humanity.

We must also give the Sacraments to the mentally handicapped. Euthanasia will never eliminate
sorrow. You never know what is happening in their hearts. God is always working and the Church is
the space in which grace happens. Grace is given to be used in order to be shared. The Church is
necessary for salvation. We must say yes to the will of God. We must step into the Church in order
to be saved. Grace is given without Church, and grace is given thanks to the intercession of Church.
Jesus gave us an example to follow and find him. In every instance in our lives, we must say yes to
the will of God. We must move and also go in the way in which God saves the world through the
Church. The dynamic of salvation is sacramental. The Eucharist can be celebrated with the original
ingredients of bread and wine, which thanks to the action of God turn to the body and blood of
Christ. God wanted to choose a few people to save many people. God does not want to save the
world by everyone being Catholic. A few are chosen. The elective dynamic is the way in which the
world should be saved. This is why he wanted to save the world. With his choice he withdraws you
from the world. God chooses us. Jesus tells us many are called but few are chosen. 2 Peter 1:9 says,
"You are a chosen race." The Church is the new people of God. The Church is born to be a
missionary community. Without a mission, the Church will fade away. With a missionary thrust, the
Church is alive. It is very, very important to be a mediator of salvation by giving witness to God
through a work of charity. the Church is the universal sacrament of salvation. It is the sacrament of
salvation for the whole of humanity. The structures of the Church help her to accomplish her
mission. The hierarchy belongs to the will of God. There are no sacraments in heaven because we
will be more united in heaven than on earth.

The election of God is relative and not absolute. We were given in order to give and be imitators.
We must keep ourselves in the dynamism of that gift. Communities must keep within the dynamism
of self giving. Catholics have a higher responsibility to give. But they must not consider themselves
better than other people. To one that has, much will be given. For one that does not have, it will be
taken away from him. We can think we are giving when we are not. We are elected for a mission,
this requires election, consecration and mission.

Before we are consecrated, we must be sent. The Church is like an army. Everyone has a place. We
must fight generously. God places vocations in our hearts. God orders his Church with structure
through Baptism, Confirmation, Order, Hierarchy and with these backbones. Religious are
an eschatological sign and shine to show where to go. There is no crisis today in vocations, but a
crisis in response to vocations. It is not that there is a lack of vocations, but a lack of response to
vocations because God is still calling! Mission is a gift from God that does not deserve to be
rejected. We must give ourself to this task and not reject the initiative of God. Vocation makes us
part of our own being. If we reject the call of vocation, we reject ourselves. We are given a vocation
at the service of the Church and the service of the whole world. The most common vocation is
marriage. Our nature helps to tell us what God wants from you. The task of a couple is to recognise
union as a call of God. In consecration, we have whole life of Christ as a bride. With our hearts we
must love humanly. Jesus fills the heart of the consecrated. In the Old Testament, virginity was seen
as something bad. In one place it is cried away. Elizabeth in the New Testament said "God took
away this shame." With the devotion of total love, God calls us to the best path. A religious must
have the intimacy of a marriage in his relationship with Jesus, and a higher level of God. God is
always very demanding. Virginity and celibacy are not frustrating but a way to live a more intensive
love. We must share our human love with Jesus Christ. We need to make our humanity more
human. Jesus give us strength to do things we have never thought of. We can given generously, and
would not have done it without the strength of God. We should desire to be consecrated with a
special, unique love. A wife is a mediator.

In a proper environment we are able to discover the will of God. There is a big heart in young
people if there is a proper environment. Behind every sinner is a great saint. There are not many
characters in the Bible who refused their vocation. Many were not faithful but few refused their
vocation. The rich young man refuses and rejects his vocation. He is afraid of giving his whole life
to God. When you love a person you show yourself to that person. Then you are susceptible to
rejection. Everyone should be helped to ensure a prosperous vocation in an atmosphere which can
grow. In one monastery, they did not have any vocations for years. But then they cleaned out the
novitiate and made it more welcoming and then vocations came. When we create a proper
atmosphere of vocation in Church, we create a community where love is shared. There are many
different vocations. In a lay vocation we can give oneself to God. The Holy Spirit helps to foster
new forms of consecration after the needs and means of the Church. The movements help to give
parishes apostolic zeal. We cannot dismiss choice which is a pure and gratuitous gift of God.
In Deuteronomy 7:7 it states "It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set
his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations." This is because God
loves you in keeping with the promises of fathers. We are called to consider our call. God chose
what is despised in the world. The choice of God is not about marvels. God loves poverty, humility,
God wants to make marvels through simple things. In Jeremiah 1:5 we hear about a consecration
before birth. It states, "Before you were born, I knew you." If you reject your vocation, you reject
yourself. It requires a total devotion to be a holy person. Vocation is a call to give up everything. We
are instruments of God. We need to be totally devoted to the hand that moves us, we cannot have
our demands. When we are in the hands of God, you are what God needs, we can then accomplish
the will of God. An instrument needs to be docile. This is the importance of obedience. We
sometimes must leave our relatives. In Luke 9:59 and 9:62, a man says that he wanted to bury his
father before following Jesus. But Jesus' response is stern: "No one who sets a hand to the plough
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." To be ordained and baptised is to
be the property of God. The imposition of hands signifies being in the property of God. To be a
priest or to be a missionary is to be the property of God. Then we can see the marvels of God. The
Devil hates missionary work. The first step the devil wants is to make sure that seeds are not sown.
He does everything to prevent the sowing. In a vocation we can either say yes or no. God is faithful
forever. There is an emptiness in the heart.

The hallmarks of a vocation

One of the few Biblical examples of a rejection is Lucifer. To reject a vocation is a very serious
thing. Is Isaiah we hear the phrase, "Non serviam." The angels are happy for one sinner who
converts. Angels cannot repent because they have full intuition. Devils have intuition without doubt.
Each one of us is a piece in a puzzle. We can destroy the puzzle piece if we put it in the wrong
place. We can be an obstacle to the will of God if we do not know what we should do. In Matthew
7:21 it says, "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Many will
say, "We did many great things." The wise man built his house on the rock. If the house falls, great
is the fall of the house. The house is the will of God. If we don't build big pillars on the rock (the
will of God), when difficult times come: misunderstandings, persecution, desert, doubts we won't
have the metaphysical certainty of a vocation. We also will not have the physical certainty of a
vocation. God wants us to achieve a moral certainty about his call. Moral certainty is given by
signs: spiritual signs, moral, suggestions and examples. With advice, suggestions and circumstances
we can get towards a target which is invisible. We are the only one who can think towards it. This is
confirmed by God in our choice. We have to be able to learn in an atmosphere in our life written
into our vocation. We need the Holy Spirit and spiritual direction in order to be able to discern this.

Now we will consider the lives of the Apostles, people from different personalities and different
social origins. John was wealthy. peter has a mother in law and a special mission. He was a strict
observer of the law, but in Acts he was told to kill and eat beasts forbidden by the law. Peter is like a
bull and Jesus is like a bullfighter. He was a disciple of John the Baptist as we hear about him in the
Baptism of Jesus. Peter has an impulsive, hot blooded personality. Jesus wanted him to have his feet
washed but he nearly refused. His advice to Jesus was to avoid the cross. He asks to walk on water.
He is the leader and makes the profession of faith: "You are the Christ, the son of the living God."
Peter has a thirst for truth. When Jesus preaches at Bethsaida he asks Peter to lend him a boat.
Maybe this is an act of charity so Peter can boast that Jesus is using his boat! But the Church is the
boat of Peter too. There is a way in which Jesus tries to conquer Peter. In the miracle of the big
fishing trip, this is the final decisive sign that transforms the heart of Peter. He says, "Leave me
Lord, for I am a sinful man." His thirst for God is let loose in his heart. You though you were strong
but in fact you are weak. The Apostles have the task to conquer. It is a very important task to try to
attract young people to the vocation they have in their heart. We must prepare spiritually to
recognise the son of God with a pure heart. We must have a life of purity in order to see the will of
God. It is the queen of the virtues. Without purity in heart, body and soul, we cannot see God. When
we are pure of heart, we will see God and also the will of God. Purity is so important in heart and
sight, to be able to contemplate God in us and around us. To be pure, we must also have silence of
heart, not to fill our heart with noise, such as the noise of sin. Sin obscures intelligence and weakens
the will. Then it is harder to follow the will of God. The will of God is obscured with sin. The devil
does his best to take away vocations from our hearts. Peter shows us that God persecutes us with his
love... God behind us with his love. Every moment of our lives has a sign of God's love. God acts
accordingly. God speaks with signs, dreams and desires in our heart and also through the people we
meet. There are coincidences, recommendations and signs. We can compare a vocation with an
engagement. We must know exactly what it is about. A heart will speak happiness and pure joy as a
consequence of the will. We must look for truth at any cost. We must be honest with our heart. Love
is blind. We must try our thoughts and find out which one is for you. we must speak about love and
devote our lives to somebody. We must fall in love with a person. A vocation can be lost. When we
lose attachment to the vocation, we can lose enthusiasm for the vocation. The call of God is a great
adventure. We must enter into a new horizon. We must put ourselves into the mission of the Church.
The Apostles were sent 2 by 2. Even the demons obeyed them. In the miracle of a conversion, a
person is being sanctified, advice is being listened to, missions achieve something beautiful. We
must give up our personal projects, maybe our family, our enterprises such as fishing. Peter was a
weak man, but he was strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Peter then had a great spiritual maturity, a
purity of heart, that made love burning. In revelation 2:4 it says, "You have lost the love you had at
first." This is said to the Angels (Bishops) of Ephesus.

Matthew is fascinated by Jesus' love of sinners. He tells us his vocation in the Gospel. He belongs
to a priestly family. Jesus gave the Apostles nicknames. Jesus tells us that he came for sinners and
wanted mercy not sacrifice. Jesus shows himself as a model of mercy. He organises a feast for
sinner and tax collectors. Matthew shows us that salvation comes through our reality and humanity.
The Holy Spirit reaches human beings sacramentally through word or deed. Jesus eats and drinks
with human sinners, both sinners and saints. To be a saint is to be most human of all. Matthew has a
big conversion and shows that repentance is very important. His experience is very similar with
many young people today. We must let ourselves be surprised not by pleasures but by engaging
truth.

So far we have talked about the call to love, how sin entered the world, Jesus, how the Church is a
people in mission and different ministries and vocations. Now we move onto other Apostles. St Paul
is conquered by Jesus. He is given a great sign. His conversion and revelation of his vocation is the
most important moment in his life. Jews search for signs and Greeks for wisdom, but St Paul met
Jesus in a vision. He felt sorry for persecuting Christians. Jesus gives us signs according to our
personality. Signs acknowledge the existence of God. The moment in which god calls us is very
important in our life. God gives us a particular vocation and a call to a particular task in place. We
are called to spread the Gospel to pagans. God is setting up a cross for us. This will identify us with
his son. We must bear witness to Jesus, but first we must live a life of purity to know your vocation
and then a path of discernment. It is extremely important to have personal contact with a
community and priests and have insight of newsletters, visits to the house, breath the atmosphere of
a vocation to know whether or not it will fit us.

Bartholomew is brought to Jesus by Philip. He is a true Israelite and has no duplicity. We must have
openness of heart. We must ask God what he wants of us. We cannot pray, "Lord, I will do anything,
just don't make me a monk!" This is a poor prayer. James the Older was John's brother. He was the
one who wanted some fire to come down from heaven to burn the village due to the rejection of
Jesus. He was obviously hot blooded. He gave up his life for Jesus and was probably the first
Martyr in about 42AD (approx). He was decapitated by Herod. he shows the intense and strong
response required to follow God. We must also have a passionate love for Jesus. There are many
obstacles that can not help us follow God. We can live in an environment that is not Christian. We
can have relatives that are very opposed. St Louis Gonzaga had this problem as he was a noble man.
But if we have a strong love, these obstacles can be overcome.

Jesus can strengthen everybody. He can triumph even in aspects that are very weak. St Thomas was
quite passionate. He says that we should go and die with Jesus (John 11:16). He did not believe the
resurrection, but this could be because he was too hurt by the passion and death of Christ. He
teaches us the importance of the love of Christ and also perseverance. 2 Cor 5:14 states, "The Love
of Christ urges us on." St Philip asks the Lord where he is going to find bread for everybody. He
asks the Lord to show the father. Some people say that this Philip is also the Deacon Philip in Acts
8:9. James the Younger was one of Jesus' cousins and maybe the first Bishop of Jerusalem. We must
overcome the respect of the world. We must live the vocation that Jesus gives us. We don't always
have Catholic friends. Judas Thaddeus says: "Master, (then) what happened that you will reveal
yourself to us and not to the world?"V"Master, (then) what happened that you will reveal yourself
to us and not to the world?" (John 14:22). We must always be faithful to the call of God. We must
have it with humility. There is also Simon the Zealous (he could have been a zealot). Nothing is
impossible to God. He could make children of God from stones.

Judas Iscariot is mentioned a great deal in Fulton Sheen, "A priest is not his own." He is most loved
by Jesus, because he is the most weak. He was a thief with money. Jesus loved him with many
details. Once received, a vocation can be lost. One must be vigilant and persevere. he who thinks to
be standing, he is about to fall, because it is always necessary to be humble. Judas is the example of
infidelity to a vocation, but he did accept his vocation. All the apostles are people who were blind,
but they had a great heart and God made apostles and martyrs of them. The fact they gave their life
for Jesus teaches us a lot. Sometimes we think the apostles are stupid. But they were strengthened
by the Holy Spirit and there was a great devotion to the Apostles in the early Church. We see the
beautiful change in Peter.

The figure of the Rich young man is the example of a rejection of a religious vocation. Religious
relativism is a problem of our age. He asks Jesus, "What must I do to attain eternal life?" Every
young man implicitly or explicitly asks this. It is something that is very important. We are made for
eternal life. Suddenly things must be avoided. The young man has a double advantage: he has the
fortune to ask the right person. He asks the right thing too: which is the way to fullness of life? He
is suspicious, the real problem is that he relies on his own strength. It is a presumption to think that
eternal life can be achieved by one's own strength. Each of us approach Christ with many sins. But
we are never rejected by the mercy of Jesus. Jesus asks, "Why do you call me good? Do you know
the commandments?" He then mentions the 6 commandments that refer to one's neighbours. The
rich young man thinks Jesus is just a master. Jesus wants the young man to turn his sight towards
God. That is why he asks, "Why do you call me good?" The rich young man knelt towards Jesus.
Jesus tells him to observe the commandments. Jesus wants him to be confronted with his own heart.
That is why he answers with a trick or trap: to say to an observant Jew: observe the commandments
is almost an insult. That is why he replies, "I have since I was a young man." What is missing?
Jesus puts the man before the emptiness of his own heart. Jesus loved him. Young people do
something before God. They open their hearts. Jesus says, "That if you want to be perfect, give all
you have to the poor." The rich young man has accomplished all the commandments. Jesus will see
if he really wants to follow him. There is a storm or earthquake in the heart of the young man. Jesus
is not asking him beyond his own strength. He has an apostolic heart, he is called to follow him.
Inside the heart of the young man, there are some second thoughts. Jesus is merciful, clear and
demanding. He gives us time to make up our mind. In time is the patience of God. Jesus narrows
the choices over time, in order to help us make up our mind. When he taught about the Eucharist
(John 6) many left him. He asks the disciples, will you leave me? Many left. Those who really
follow him stay, not those who only follow his miracles. The language he used in John 6 is very
tough. Many stopped following him. Many abandoned him. The consequence for the rich young
man is that he went away sad. A man with a great heart of an apostle is won over by other things.
He preferred himself to Jesus. When Jesus said to sell everything to the poor and he will have
treasure in heaven, Jesus gives a reward which is human too. He is scared of selling his riches. One
can be scared of celibacy too. If he had trusted in Jesus, he would have been able to live in celibacy
and poverty too. The first step towards Jesus is confidence, we do not have to worry. When you
know that it is your vocation, many blessing will come to you. If we did not obey but are won over
by fear, the fear of poverty, chastity and lack of obedience in real life. A lack of poverty can be a
lack of knowledge. We have to be very delicate with Jesus: a vocation is not given to everybody.
The man that was healed by Jesus was told to go back to his relatives and tell them that the
Kingdom of God is close. Those who are blessed by God are privileged. It is a pity to think that
some prefer their own comforts to the generosity of God. God never asks more than we can give
and never wants totally blind obedience. Peter left his mother in law, family, country and friends.
Peter was willing to give everything because he knew the Lord was going to give him eternal life.
When we live something we expect to receive something. We receive Jesus' love, the land of our
rest is the love of Jesus. We must feel a bit of sorrow, so many other people are called, the witness
of many rich men who are not able to say yes. They have their own projects, make their own plans
but are not prepared to leave them for the marvel that is Jesus. We must all struggle and strive for
God. Jesus will reveal his plans to us. The story of the young man is in 3 Gospels to help us not to
make the same mistake as the young man. We are called to keep the word of God.

The movements

We cannot rejoice in a heresy. Redemptoris Mission was written in order to face the situation of
multiculturalism. We have to recover and refresh the Missio ad Gentes. The groups that do not yet
believe in Christ are not the same as countries that have received the good news. The identity of the
mission needs defending. Sometimes people say that the age of mission has ended. This is wrong.
They assert that the mission is in Europe and the need for ad gentes is over. Jesus has come to save
the whole person. Isabel the Catholic made a decree that people had a right to receive the Gospel.
She stopped conquerors making slaves of people in the new world because of her insistence that
people should be evangelized. John Paul II saw the importance of the mission Ad Gentes. He saw
the crisis in the Church and obvious urgent nature of the Church's mission. "Not everything can be
considered mission." The Church cannot withdraw from bringing mission to all people. The specific
concept of mission must be kept for those who have never heard of Jesus Christ. Mission helps the
Church to more in daily life. All Catholics are missionaries. We all have a specific mission
Ad Gentes. In the 5th Century, a large evangelization happened. The normal nature of the Gospel is
to spread, almost like a gas. In mission we preserve identity. Many theological theories are slowing
the self consciousness of the Church. The new movements help to make the Church more apostolic,
bringing new things according to necessity. The new springtime in the Church helps to get the
negative tendency to see the mission Ad Gentes which appears waning out of the way. In Church
history, missionary drive is a sign of vitality. Lack of missionary activity is a sign of a crisis of
identity. The crisis of faith inside the Church as Pope Benedict has made the synthesis is that why
omit going forth to spread the Gospel. Sometimes it is because of religious relativism and
theological heresy. There are difficulties within the people of God. The most painful of all is the
lack of fervour. This comes from within. Indifferentism, fallen away Christians, fatigue,
disenchantment, lack of joy, lack of hope, a wrong religious perspective leads to the decrease of
vocations, counter witness of believers and the view that one religion is as good as another. This
decreases the objective view of truth. Cardinal Ratzinger wrote, "Truth and tolerance" where he
stated that religious relativism is the central problem of our time. It is the view that "One truth
cannot be valid for everyone." Religious pluralism belongs to the will of God. It is a divine reality.
The idea that everyone can be saved through different religions is a false idea. This would mean that
we could all create our own religion. Religion then would just be a set of symbols. The other theory
is that God cannot be known by anyone. So we could only use symbols in order to enter the
religious sphere. Therefore the theory goes that Jesus is not the unique mediator of God and then he
is not the son of God. Pope Benedict states that Christians should not have an imperialistic attitude
and when we do face other culture, we must go in a humble way. Vatican II was the first council
that spoke directly about the Church. Ecclesiology was not that well developed before. The Church
is the universal sacrament of salvation. The Church is chosen to go and spread to die and to give
life. The Church and Jesus have a unique bond. They cannot be separated. We
cannot separate husband and wife. We cannot separate health from the body. Jesus only has one
bride. This is the Church. He does not practice polygamy. He just has one body. There is just one
true Church. There is one authentic conscience of Catholics. In the apocalypse the Gospel says, "I
saw the city of God coming from on high." The Church is a gift from God. The gratuitous action of
God comes from the bottom up. Community is given by God to the world. Each human being has
an openness to God. Human beings are searching for God, even if they are sinning, usually they are
also looking for God. The fruits of openness to God can be an attempting to thirst for God. The
Catholic Church is a gift from on high. Sacraments work to bring us into relationship with the
divine sphere. The son of God gave life, we are children of God of the only son. Religion is not just
a movement but also an anthropological and natural reality. There are seeds of truth in other
religions. There are no sacraments and no salvation in other religions. It is possible to know God
through our own intelligence. The Holy Spirit is active in our lives.

If relativism enters mentality or subconscious, the question is then: why talk about Christ? If we
don't evangelise faith does not exercise its muscles. one will lose strength, and then just have bones.
A beautiful teaching of the council wants the Church to be missionaries. We must have the
conscience that we have the truth. We also know that those of other cultures can enrich us. Jesus is
the only way to the Father. Outside the Church there is no salvation. Outside the supernatural
mediation of the Church there is no salvation. Mary is the mediator of all graces to the world.

The destruction of Catholic identity can also happen when the liturgy is destroyed. In the Mass we
have the place where we have our spiritual identity, the relationship of who we are and our identity.
At the end of Mass, "Ita Missa Est" means, "Go you are sent," not "Go in peace." The peace of a
Christian does not let us stay calm. "The love of Christ urges us on." The peace of a missionary is
that he wasted his life for God. The Pope says that missionary work is urgently needed. Asia is
calling for evangelisation. The Church should send with preference to Asia. This conscience should
be recovered. Europe also needs to be re-evangelised. It needs another first announcement.
Christian people will find support from missionaries abroad. When a missionary leaves, it is a great
example. There is a supernatural and sacramental meaning of this activity. When we are able to be
generous to give missionaries, this belongs to the dynamism of charity. Evangelisation is part of
what it means to be human. There is no authentic communion without mission. A radical conversion
in thinking is necessary in order to be a missionary. The most precious gift of all is our faith. In light
of the missionary imperative is internal divisions and tensions. Parishes can have rivalries with one
against another. If a parish did not have missionaries this might happen. The missionary conscience
needs to be recovered. Today, missionary activity is the greatest activity for the Church. It is the
moment to commit to both the new evangelisation and the ad Gentes. The energies of the Church
should be committed to the new evangelisation. Europe has a tradition to give.
Man can gain salvation by God's mercy. The idea that we can gain salvation is a result of false ideas
which bring problems. The Gospel is more powerful than consumerism. God is still calling those to
be missionaries Ad Gentes. The Holy Spirit moves hearts. The greatest poverty is ignorance. Christ
loves the poor, he is demanding for missionaries of the poor. He is asking men to give fully of
themselves. The importance of prayer is above all measures.