Today, we look at some who, in the crowd, have sought to come to Jesus Christ. He is talking while watching the fields full of ears: "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Lk 10:2). Suddenly, looking onto them, straight in the eyes, he points out a few, one by one: you, and you and you. Up to seventy two…

Astonished, they hear him say go, two by two, into every town and places where He will go. Perhaps some have answered: 'But, Lord, I only came to hear you, because it's so beautiful what you are saying!

The Lord warns them against the dangers that lurk them. "Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” And using custom images in the parables, he adds: "Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals" (Lk 10:3-4). Interpreting the expressive language of Jesus: -Put aside human means. I send you and that is enough. Even though it feels far away, stay close, I accompany you.

Unlike the Twelve, called by the Lord to remain with Him, the seventy-two then returned to their families and their work. They lived there with what they had found with Jesus: to bear witness, each in its place, just helping those to come closer to Jesus Christ.

The adventure ends well: "The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing" (Lk 10:17). Sitting around Jesus Christ, they shared the experience of that couple of days in which they discovered the beauty of being a witness.

When considering today that distant episode, we see that it is not just an historical memory. We are taking the hint: we can be next to Christ present in the Church and worship Him in the Eucharist. Pope Francis encourages us to "bring Christ to man, and lead to an encounter with Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, truly present in the Church and contemporary in every man."

Today, the Church contemplates how from those following the Lord that had been called by him, besides the Twelve, there were also numerous disciples. From all those disciples the Lord chooses seventy two for a concrete mission. He expects from them the same as from the Apostles, namely, total generosity and complete abandonment to Divine Providence.

The Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, in its decree Apostolicam actuositatem, reminds us that from the Baptism each Christian is called by Christ to carry out a mission. The Church, in the name of our Lord, “earnestly entreats all the laity in the Lord to answer gladly, nobly, and promptly the more urgent invitation of Christ in this hour and the impulse of the Holy Spirit. Younger persons should feel that this call has been directed to them especially and they should respond to it eagerly and generously. Through this holy synod, the Lord renews His invitation to all the laity to come closer to Him every day, recognizing that what is His is also their own (Phil. 2:5), to associate themselves with Him in His saving mission. Once again He sends them into every town and place where He will come (cf. Luke 10:1) so that they may show that they are co-workers in the various forms and modes of the one apostolate of the Church, which must be constantly adapted to the new needs of our times. Ever productive as they should be in the work of the Lord, they know that their labor in Him is not in vain (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58)” (n. 33).

Christ wants to instill in his disciples the apostolic boldness; this is why He says “I am sending you”, to which St. John Chrysostom comments: “This should suffice to cheer you up; this would suffice to give you confidence and not be afraid of those who attack you.” The boldness of the Apostles and disciples came from the certainty that they had been chosen and sent out by God himself. They acted the same as Peter firmly explained at the Sanhedrin, in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, “nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).