Imagine yourself, a 21st Century American, traveling to a Third World country you have never been to before. How would you prepare yourself? What would your luggage contain? I imagine you would be visiting with your healthcare provider to get some shots to protect you from imaginary and possible infections. I imagine you would carry with you all kinds of prescription medicine to keep you safe from bugs and mosquitoes. I imagine you would prepare for adverse weather conditions, have the right shoes and clothes. I imagine you would do your research to learn more about the country and its people and how they treat strangers. I imagine you would be asking about hotels and how the transport system works. What about food? I am sure you would be making arrangements for places you would like to see and things you would like to do.
Imagine that the Lord was calling you to a mission, and he tells you to go to a country you have never been before. He tells you not to worry about any of the common preoccupations I have listed above, and that you would have to depend on the hospitality of strangers. How many would respond to such a call? If the Lord would ask you to travel with just one suitcase, or none at all, how many would take him seriously? Imagine that the mission the Lord is sending you was to a country famed for its hostilities to strangers, would you still go?
But Jesus never sends us on a mission he is not willing to accompany us on. He will not send us on a mission that is not important to him. The mission of the seventy-two was to join in gathering in the ripe grains. The harvest is indeed rich but the laborers are few. The Lord tells them to pray and ask the master of the harvest to send in more laborers for his harvest. This mission is not only for the seventy-two; it is the mission of the entire Church. It is the mission you and I have been called to. Although we are sent as lambs in the midst of wolves, we are not to be afraid because the Lord is always with us on our journey. Our security is not in the provisions we make prior to leaving for the mission. Our security is not in our staff or weapons of warfare, the content of our bags or the comfort of our sandals. Our security is in God who, like a mother, nurses us, protects us, and gives us his peace. We belong to God; we bear on our bodies his mark of ownership. World events reinforce the urgency of this mission of bringing the light of Christ into the darkness; of speaking the truth in love; of sharing our peace with a broken and ailing world; of comforting those who are hurting and speaking calm into the storm. Let us never forget the example of Jesus. He resisted the errors of the Jewish authorities of his day, but won hearts by the way he loved. And he tells us, “they will know you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35).
May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!