Breaking the Word

 After this the Lord appointed seventy (-two) others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.  Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' (Lk 10:1-9)

People do not choose Jesus but Jesus chooses and it is he who appoints the disciples. They are not just followers of him in the sense of going behind him but rather they are also asked to go ahead of him to prepare for his coming. So the disciples in a sense are to be like John the Baptist. They have to prepare the people and get them ready to receive Jesus as he comes with the kingdom.

The disciples have to realize that there awaits a lot of work for them. In fact they have more work than they could do. This is the reason that they are asked to  pray for more workers in the vineyard of the lord. Working for the kingdom is demanding and it implies a lot of work. There is a need for greater number of workers. The disciples are asked to pray for, ask for and probably work for more labourers.

Jesus gives his disciples a list of things they ought to do. It is a code of conduct as they go about with the work of preparation.  Jesus also gives formation to his disciples. He tells them what to do and what not to do. He forms them in the mission. Formation is given as they go about with the work of the kingdom.

  He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."  (Mk 16:15-18)

A disciple is the one who proclaims the gospel to every creature. Conversion of St. Paul is considered to be so. He was a persecutor of the disciples of Jesus and he was carrying orders to do the same. His encounter with the risen Lord changes him totally. He is no more the persecutor but he has become the one who proclaims. A change or a conversion would mean this.

Belief in the gospel is the only guarantee for salvation. The world and every creature should accept the presence of God in the world. This is to say that every one should have a God experience. The conversion of St. Paul is also considered as a God experience. This experience leads him to spirituality. There is a change of attitude in him; a change that makes him realize God in him and in the world.

Presence of God in the world and or the experience of God would lead anyone to do good to the world and the other. All the good that they do are the miracles. Presence of God will lead one to see the goodness present in the things and persons around and that will lead him to work for the totality of good.