SETTING OUT ON THE ROAD. Luke 10:1-12. 17-20

The role of Jesus himself is to summon and send in mission. He is in the Church to continue calling missionaries and apostles. He is the one who has the initiative to proclaim and carry out the Gospel of salvation.And He sends them all over the world. The number of seventy-two has a sense of universality, referring to Genesis 10, where the number of pagan nations is seventy-two.

In addition to the Twelve, previously chosen (Lk. 9:1-6), Jesus chooses the seventy-two disciples. This points to both the universal call to salvation and the responsibility of every disciple of Jesus to feel sent to be missionary. The whole Church is missionary. Every Christian must exercise his vocation, initially received in baptism, to be: priest, prophet and king. The mission is not exclusive to priests and religious. Each and every member of the People of God is an evangelizer, with words and deeds.