Every vocation to the apostolate springs from familiarity with God’s word and involves being sent to communicate that word to others. These "others" can be people who already know the language of the revealed word. But they can also be people who do not yet know that language, as happens in the case of the missionary vocation. The word of God is unknown to some because they have not yet heard it. Others have forgotten it, or have abandoned what they once heard. No matter what the difficulties, the apostle knows that he is not alone: "I am always with you." I pray every day that the Catholic young people of the world will hear the call of Christ and that their response will be what the Responsorial Psalm says: The Lord is "my allotted portion... I set the Lord ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed."
--Pope John Paul II, January 1995