The Nation / “After this, the Lord chose seventy

“After this, the Lord chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them two by two ahead of him to all the cities and places where he was to go. (…) Enter every city and welcome them, eat what they serve, heal their sick and say to that people: The Kingdom of God has come to you”. Lk 10, 1.8-9

In the past week we have reflected on the following of Christ, on this Sunday the Church presents us with the ideal of the mission. One is a consequence of the other.

The words disciple and apostle can help us understand better. Disciple means one who learns, one who follows. Apostle means one who is sent. Thus: a disciple of Christ is a student (follower) of him, and an apostle of Christ is an envoy of him.

If last week we talked about some aspects of being a disciple, today the gospel tells us about the characteristics of the apostle. In the first place, the envoy cannot give himself this task, he needs to be sent by someone. It is God who chooses from among his disciples those whom he wishes to send. That is why no missionary is in his own name, but he does it in the name of the one who has sent him. It is very important that the missionary knows that he must not announce himself, that he is an instrument, a spokesman, and therefore he must be very careful to maintain the purity of the message, without contaminating it with his prejudices or with the personal ideas of the. Being an apostle is very demanding, since it requires great humility and docility to the will of the one he sends and great care not to usurp his position.

In a certain way the apostle is called never to lose the attitude of a disciple. To avoid danger, the Lord sends them two by two. The Christian ideal of the Apostolate is not solitary. For the mission, the presence of the other is very important. He will be support and company, but also a source of discernment and confrontation, necessary to not get out of the way. Both will be completed for the sake of the mission.

The missionary is called to go to the frontier of Christianity, that is to places where the Lord has not yet come. These can be very distant places, but also people very close, who have not yet accepted the presence of Christ. Each one must be attentive to discover where “his mission land” is: his own family, the place of work, the parish community, other regions of the country, or other countries and even other continents.

Then Jesus gives some instructions: be careful with the wolves, don’t take anything, don’t look for acquaintances… “eat what they serve you”. The missionary must be aware that the one who sent him will not leave him alone, and the proof of this trust is to abandon himself to his providence. An apostle who worries about what he is going to eat on the mission, or how he is going to defend himself, or other things of this kind, has not yet understood what it means to be a Christian missionary.

Also in this “eat what they serve” we can find a good principle of cultural exchange. The missionary must be willing to live life where he goes without demands, he must enter with the customs of his new house. This is the key to reach the heart of those who welcome you. Jesus Christ promised that he would accompany the preaching of his apostles, with signs for people to believe. For this reason, one of the apostle’s missions is to “heal the sick”, a sign of the company of Christ. It is clear that this healing can have many meanings: like healing the blindness of people who do not see their sins, or who do not recognize the grace and love of God. But without a doubt it will also be physically healing people. The Lord never allows the Word to be proclaimed, without doing wonders for his people.

At the end, Jesus indicates the content of the preaching: “tell that people: The Kingdom of God has come to you. “The presence of the missionary, the good news of Jesus preached, the healings intervened by God, will all be signs that the Kingdom of God is present there.

Brothers, let us pray for the missionaries so that they are faithful to the one who sent them, but let us also ask that the Lord send many more, because the “harvest is great and the workers are few”.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine on you and have mercy on you.

The Lord turn his loving gaze and give you peace.

The Nation / “After this, the Lord chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them out two by two” Lk 10, 1.8-9