Pope at Angelus Urges Faithful: Be Labourers in the Mission Field

Vatican City, July 6, 2025: Speaking to the faithful gathered for his Sunday Angelus on 6 July, Pope Leo reflected on the Church’s universal call to mission, urging Christians to move beyond occasional expressions of faith and become committed witnesses in everyday life.

Grounding his address in the Gospel of Luke, the Pope focused on Jesus sending out seventy-two disciples, describing it as a sign of the Gospel’s universal reach. “The hope of the Gospel is meant for all peoples,” he said, highlighting that this reveals “the breadth of God’s heart and the abundance of His harvest.”

Quoting Jesus’ words, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few,” Pope Leo observed that although the world appears consumed by distractions and noise, people still “yearn for a greater truth,” seek justice, and carry within themselves “a longing for eternal life.”

He portrayed God as a sower who has generously scattered in people’s hearts “a desire for the infinite, for a fulfilled life and for salvation that sets us free.” Yet, he noted, there are few who can “distinguish, with the eyes of Jesus, the good grain that is ripe for harvesting.”

Labourers of Faith Needed

Pope Leo cautioned that faith must not become “merely an external label.” He stressed that both the Church and the world need not occasional participants but “labourers who are eager to work in the mission field, loving disciples who bear witness to the Kingdom of God in all places.”

He acknowledged the presence of many “intermittent Christians who occasionally act upon some religious feeling or participate in sporadic events,” but said there are far fewer who are prepared “on a daily basis, to labour in God’s harvest.”

The Pope underlined that this mission does not demand “too many theoretical ideas about pastoral plans.” Rather, he insisted, “we need to pray to the Lord of the harvest.” He explained that prioritising one’s relationship with the Lord and cultivating dialogue with Him enables people to become true labourers, ready to be sent “into the field of the world to bear witness to His Kingdom.”

Concluding his reflection, Pope Leo encouraged the faithful to entrust themselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary, “who generously gave her ‘yes’ to participating in the work of salvation.” He prayed that she might “intercede for us and accompany us on the path of following the Lord, so that we too may become joyful labourers in God’s Kingdom.”

Courtesy: Vatican News