The call to consecrated life

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[a] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold[b] and will inherit eternal life.But many who are first will be last, and the last first. (Matthew 19: 23-30)

Those who follow Jesus do so in response to His call. It is not the disciples who choose Jesus, but He chooses them. That is why a disciple is, first of all, one who follows Jesus and not one who walks before Him putting his own will before Jesus’s. To some of them Jesus asks them to follow Him leaving all material things, as well as dreams and legitimate aspirations. Today we focus our prayer for vocations to the consecrated life so that young people will follow Jesus's call to become friars, nuns, monks, priests, etc., and that they will be able to serve a religious calling