Pope Francis in the final document on the Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment wrote:
Indeed, Jesus not only fascinated people with his life – he also issued an explicit call to faith. He encountered men and women who recognized in his words and actions the right way to speak of God and to relate to him, pointing them towards the faith that leads to salvation. Others who met him were called to become his disciples and witnesses. He did not conceal from those who wanted to be disciples the need to take up the cross every day and follow him on a paschal journey of death and resurrection.
Faith as witness lives on in the Church, the sign and instrument of salvation for all peoples. There have always been various forms of discipleship within the community of Jesus. Most of the disciples lived the faith in the ordinary circumstances of daily life; others, though, including some women, shared the itinerant and prophetic existence of the Master (cf. Lk 8:1-3); from the outset the apostles had a particular role in the community, and they were associated by him with his ministry of guiding and preaching.
