2 Tim 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5 / Luke 10:1-9
The apostles were disciples of Jesus, and in turn they too had their own disciples.
These disciples not only learned from the apostles the truth of Jesus, they also helped the apostles with the mission of spreading the Good News.
St. Paul was given the title of apostle although he was not one of the chosen twelve apostles.
He also had his disciples and today the Church honours two of them - St. Timothy and St. Titus.
In a way, they were closest to St. Paul and he often mentioned about them in his letters and also wrote letters to them.
He also made them take charge of the churches he had founded.
The main criterion for making them leaders of the new-found churches was not because of their abilities. In fact, St. Timothy was considered young in years and maybe even a bit timid.
But what St. Paul saw in them was faith, and that was enough for him to entrust the care of the churches into their hands.
Yes, as Jesus said in the gospel, the harvest is rich but the labourers are few.
Let us pray for more labourers, and may those chosen labourers be people of faith and dedication and courage.
It is our responsibility and duty to pray for these labourers. It is also our duty and responsibility to respond if we are called to be one of those labourers.
Certainly prayers are important. When we pray and God answers our prayers, it is that He wants us to trust in His abilities.
But when we pray and it seems that God does not answer our prayers, then it could be that He wants us to trust in our abilities.