From Baptism onwards, every Christian is called by Christ to perform a mission. In the gospel reading from Luke, we see Jesus sending the disciples into every town and place where he is to come. He sends them on the Church’s apostolate, an apostolate that is one yet has different forms and methods, an apostolate that must all the time be adapting itself to the needs of the moment; he sends them on an apostolate where they are to show themselves his cooperators, doing their full share continually in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord their labor cannot be lost. St John Chrysostom comments that the Lord’s direction in sending the disciples outward “suffices to give us encouragement, to give us confidence and to ensure that we are not afraid of our assailants.” The apostles’ and disciples’ boldness stemmed from their firm conviction that they were on a God-given mission: they acted, as Peter, the apostle, confidently explained to the Sanhedrin, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, “for there is no other name under heaven … by which we must be saved.” St. John Henry Newman writes, “Everyone has a mission, has a work. We are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not born at random. God sees every one of us. God creates every soul for a purpose. God needs every one of us. God has an end for each of us; we are all equal in God’s sight. As Christ has his work, we too have ours; as he rejoiced to do his work, we must rejoice in ours also.” It is far easier to stay in our comfortable world, within the confines of the known, the safe bastions of our churches. We conjure up all kinds of reasons for not heading the call, much like Moses and the prophets of old. We say to God, “Not me, for I am unable to do this,” instead of saying, “Take me, God, for you are with me always.”