When I ask for help, I get two types of reactions. Primary school-age children instantly raise their hands up, and some enthusiastically try to draw my attention: “Choose me!” When a group of adults have been asked, everyone suddenly realises something is wrong with their footwear that requires their immediate attention and prolonged diligent visual inspection. I wonder what would happen nowadays if Jesus “appointed seventy-two others” from among us and “sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go,” as He did in today’s gospel. If we discount underage children from this number, pretty much everyone here would have to respond to such a call. How would you feel about being appointed to convey Jesus’ message to the world out there? It can be a pretty scary proposition for various reasons. Just to mention two of the most common… It carries a risk of exposure to unfriendly, unpleasant, or even hostile comments and reactions. Or you lack the confidence and knowledge about your faith to fulfil such a mission successfully and effectively. And yet, each one of us attending this and every Mass is “appointed […] and sent […] on ahead of [Jesus] into every town and place where he himself [is] about to go.” The English word for the “Mass” is derived from the Latin conclusion of the celebration: “Ite, missa est”, which literally translates as “go, you are sent.” Consequently, being sent to carry out Jesus’ mission of salvation isn’t optional; it’s mandatory.
We know that Jesus, early in His earthly ministry, selected several disciples whom He was effectively training for future leadership roles. Known collectively as the Apostles, we can think of them in modern terms as future professionals. In today’s gospel, Jesus “appointed seventy-two others” from a broader group of His followers who had listened to His teachings and speeches, but had not received instruction as detailed as the Apostles. We can safely assume that they might have felt out of their depth when they found themselves sent out. I imagine it was similar to how you may feel when you hear about being sent out yourself. However, when we examine closely the instructions Jesus gave the “appointed seventy-two others,” it’s quite remarkable how little He focused on talking. There were just three sentences, two of which were very brief indeed, and only one addressed actual preaching: “Say to them: ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Jesus paid much more attention to what I’d call “lifestyle description”: their manners, how to carry themselves, their desired behaviour and actions; something summarised well in the famous saying: “Actions speak louder than words.”
The same applies to each of us. While most might not feel confident or knowledgeable enough to explain our faith in detail to others, we can always strive to be witnesses to Jesus’ transformative power of love, mercy, and forgiveness through the way we live our lives every day. It’s not a new concept. Around the year 130 AD, a treatise on the Christian way of life was written in Greek by an author whose name has been lost to history. Known as “Epistle [Letter] to Diognetus”, it defended Christianity against the charges of its critics. Nearly two millennia later, it remains surprisingly relevant and is worth recalling a chunk of it:
“For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children, but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time, surpass the laws by their lives. They love all and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; […] those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.” (source: New Advent)
This is as much a description as a prescription for a Christian life we are called to live. “Go, you are sent.”
