117.6月18日使徒工作－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

The Gospel of the Mass tells us (Mt 9:36-10:8) that the Lord was filled with compassion when he saw the crowds, because they were mistreated and dejected like sheep without a shepherd, deeply disoriented. Their shepherds, instead of guiding and caring for them, led them astray and behaved more like wolves than shepherds. Jesus said to the apostles: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

彌撒的福音告訴我們（瑪9：36-10：8），當我主看到群眾時，祂充滿了憐憫之心，因為他們遭受到虐待和沮喪，就像沒有牧者的羊一樣，深深地迷失了方向。他們的牧者沒有引導和照顧他們，而是將他們引入歧途，表現得更像狼，而不是牧者。主耶穌對門徒們說：「莊稼固多，工人卻少。」

As today, the laborers are few in proportion to the task: so many disoriented people, empty of God and filled only with material goods or the desire to have them. There is an urgent need for joyful, effective, simple Christians, faithful to the Church, aware of what they have in their hands. Today we can ask ourselves: what have I done today to make God known? to whom have I spoken about Christ today? am I concerned about the salvation of those around me? am I aware that many would come to the Lord if I were bolder and more exemplary in the fulfillment of my duties?

在今天也一樣，在比例上勞工少而工作卻多：這麼多的人迷失了方向，沒有天主，只充滿物質、財富或是他們想要擁有的慾望。而迫切需要喜樂、有效率、純樸的基督徒，忠於教會，意識到他們手中擁有什麼。今天我們可以問自己：我今天做了什麼好讓天主為人所知？我今天向誰談到過主基督？我是否關心周圍人的得救？我是否知道，如果我在履行職責時更大膽、更以身作則，會讓許多人來到主面前呢？

There are many excuses for not bringing others to Christ: lack of means, insufficient preparation, lack of time, or the enormity of the distances of the big city in which we live. Yet we should all fulfill what depends on us. And we want to be faithful to the Lord: to carry out what is in our hands. “Prayer is the most effective means of winning new apostles” (St Josemaría), of getting many to discover the Christian vocation to which God is calling them. The eagerness for vocations must be translated, in the first place, into a continuous, confident and humble petition. And if we turn to the Lord in petition for committed vocations, we ourselves will feel called to participate much more boldly in this apostolic work, in addition to obtaining from the Lord workers for his field.

有很多的藉口，讓我們不把別人帶到主基督的面前：缺乏方法，準備不足，缺乏時間，或者我們居在的大城市距離遙遠。然而，我們都應該要完成託付給我們的責任。我們要忠於主：執行我們手中的任務。「祈禱是贏得新使徒最有效的方法。」（聖施禮華）讓許多人發現，天主在召喚他們成為基督徒聖召。首先，對職業的聖召，必須轉化為持續、自信和謙卑的請求。如果我們轉向主祈求委順的聖召，除了從主那裡獲得祂園地裡的工人，我們自己也會感到被召喚，更大膽地參與這項使徒的工作。

Jesus’ arrival, all apostolic work, is to be prepared by those who have been sent, by those who already follow him. The Lord, who could do everything personally, wants to need disciples like you who go before him to the cities, to the villages, to the factories, to the universities. We cannot forget that God calls many. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to know how to promote and encourage many to follow him, people we see every day. Let us ask Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, to help us formulate a concrete intention to be an instrument so that many may correspond to the call of her Son.

主耶穌來到，所有的使徒工作，都要由那些被差遣的人，由那些已經跟隨祂的人來做準備。我主可以親自做任何事情，但是祂想要像你這樣的門徒，在祂之前走遍城市、村莊、工廠及大學。我們不能忘記天主召喚了許多的人。讓我們祈求我主的恩典，讓我們知道如何促進和鼓勵，我們每天所看到的許多人，來跟隨祂。讓我們請求聖母，宗徒之后，幫助我們制定一個具體的意向，成為一個工具，以便許多人能夠回應她聖子的召喚。