"Come, follow me. I will make you fishers of men." The first part of this invitation of Jesus is a call to intimacy with him as a disciple. The second part is an invitation to ministry or mission.  But the ministry hinges on the measure of their life as a disciple. The invitation to be a disciple includes the invitation of ministry. Our call to be a disciple occurred around the waters of baptism; our invitation and commission to ministry came in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

What is our basic ministry? We are called to be a witness of Jesus to others. What is the  core of our witness? It is the same as what Jesus witnessed to the first disciples, Andrew and John, after his baptism in the Jordan. He shared with them his experience of the Father's affirmative love as the beloved Son and his call to share the Good News of God's love in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Son of God took on our flesh to be one like and with us in all things but sin. In this way he was a manifestation of God's love. But this love reached its apex, when Jesus gave his life for our life on the cross of salvation. We are sent by Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to share the same message of God's personal love for us and to lay d own our life as a reflection of that love. As St. Therese said: "Love is our vocation." And our ministry.