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“You may be the only Gospel someone may hear this day.” This rather well known saying might calm any fears of the direction today’s Scriptures may be taking us. That aphorism doesn’t seem as overwhelming as the call of Isaiah or the Galilean fishermen. Nonetheless their call is a mirror of our own call to discipleship.But be assured that the prophets and early disciples were often more reluctant than we might at first realize. Most of the early prophets initially demurred, using a variety of excuses; too young, too inexperienced, too sinful. But God would not accept such flimsy excuses, because it was not about them. It was about the Word of God, which didn’t need a whole lot from the human voice to be effective.So the youth, inexperience, even the sinfulness of the prophet, preacher or the disciple is a non-starter. What is necessary is the willingness to be used by the divine will to proclaim the Good News. That Good News was defined by the prophet Isaiah and echoed by Jesus in the Nazareth synagogue:The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captivesand recovery of sight to the blind,to let the oppressed go free,and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.This proclamation at the beginning of Christ’s public ministry is our charge as well. We were anointed in our baptism and we are sent to minister in his name. This is not an option. It is a mandate. So often we lull ourselves into a complacency of negative discipleship: we observe all the “thou shalt nots” and fail to see the flip side of those commands as positive action. Discipleship is not so much about “not doing something” as it is being proactively involved in building a world of peace and justice.In spite of our inexperience, our age – too young or too old – or our perceived lack of talent, even our sinfulness, each one of us should be willing to accept the call and say “Here I am Lord, send me.” We should not see in these Scriptures the opportunity to appeal for more vocations to the priesthood. That would be another cop out. The decline in the number of active clergy in recent years is a clarion call from the Holy Spirit to all the faithful to embrace their discipleship more fully that ever before.In any given parish there would be opportunities to embrace the call to “follow me.” Youth ministry or religious education does not need a cleric or religious. A lay person freely visiting the sick and imprisoned is a powerful act of a disciple. The spontaneous act of compassion or concern of individual parishioners is powerful testimony of a welcoming faith community. There is a place for the St. Vincent DePaul Society and a Stephen’s Ministry, but the list of organized ministries in a parish should never be seen as the hallmark of its involvement in building the reign of God. Why should we be told to greet one another at the beginning of the Liturgy. Shouldn’t that be a natural thing to do as the community gathers? What God asked of Isaiah, what Jesus asks of the fisherman is also asked of each one of us. The call to discipleship is a way of, life not an organized project. Each one of us in any number of ways each day can be the Good News. A family member, a neighbor, a colleague, a stranger are all valid recipients of the Good News. Those specifically singled out by Isaiah, those most in need, should be our greatest concern. But with as many as seventy percent of registered Catholics not attending church regularly, we must all know at least one of them. Be Good News!There are as many opportunities for being Good News each day as there are people who move in and through our lives. When we gather each week to share in the One Bread and One Cup, we become what we proclaim: Maybe today. Maybe through you. Be the Good News!