Traveling orders: “I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” Oh, yes! Sign me up for this!

But signing up is exactly what we are expected to do, and once the crowd knows who we are and what we stand for, be sure that they will come after us, chiding and name-calling and casting aspersions on everything we stand for, but the work must continue. The Spirit will guide us, and we will be joyful. In Luke 10:17, following the commission, the disciples returned rejoicing and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.…”

Now, Jesus did not mince words to the seventy-two disciples he commissioned to go out and tell the good news. His marching orders are precise. Go two by two without luggage to those who have little. Be one of them. Whatever food is set before them, eat what they give and eat with them. Take care of those who are in need. Sounds familiar. We are asked to do the same. Joined together in our baptism, we do not walk two by two, but with many when feeding the homeless, giving a helping hand, and talking to a homeless person on the street. As Pope Francis says, we are evangelizers “…taking on the smell of the sheep” (Evangelii Gaudium).

Accepting what Jesus asks of us is not easy; in fact, it’s very difficult. Herein lies the power of baptism: more than the clearance of sin, but giving strength and sharing in this mystical body of Christ. Just as the rejoicing disciples returned to Jesus, we too can return to his presence in adoration to renew our commitment and then go forth once again; for now, we are his disciples.

Let Us Pray:

Dear Lord, come to our assistance, and we will go forth to find and make disciples bathed in the Spirit’s water. And the tree will bear fruit.

Eucharistic Reflection – Center for Eucharistic Evangelizing (eucharisticevangelizing.com)
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