Luciano Audisio, O.A.R., offers us this commentary on this Sunday’s Gospel, centered on the missionary sending of the disciples. With poetic and profound language, he invites us to rediscover evangelization not as conquest, but as communion, based on vulnerability, tenderness and the certainty that God is already at work in people’s hearts.
Mission: living heart of the Church
Today’s Gospel places us at the heart of the Church’s mission. Jesus, says the text, “the Lord appointed seventy-two others” (ἀνέδειξεν ὁ κύριος ἑτέρους ἑβδομήκοντα [δύο]) and sent them out two by two to proclaim his Kingdom. This scene, which might seem like a simple organizational anecdote, is actually a profoundly theological portrait of what it means to be Church. It challenges us about our most essential identity: what does it mean to be an apostle? What does it mean to say that the Church is apostolic?
72 envoys: a Church on the way
The number 72 is not accidental: it is 12 multiplied by 6. The twelve evokes the apostles, and therefore, the twelve tribes of Israel, the chosen people. Six, in Hebrew symbolism, is the day of man’s creation, but it also represents the unfinished, that which is in process. Because seven is the number of fullness. This number -72- speaks of a Church on the way, unfinished, sent to complete a history that has not yet reached its fulfillment. Jesus shows us that the sending is not the end, but the beginning of something that the Father has already begun in hearts.
Two in two: evangelization as communion
The text continues with this expression: “he sent them two by two before him” (ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς ἀνὰ δύο πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ). The Lord does not send his own alone, because evangelization is not about spreading an idea, but about witnessing to a relationship. Two people who walk together, who listen to each other, who correct each other, who forgive each other, are the first proclamation of the Gospel. More than words, it is the way we love each other that reveals Christ.
Preparing for the coming of the Lord with gestures
“He sent them to every city and place where he was to go” (εἰς πᾶσαν πόλιν καὶ τόπον οὗ ἤμελλλεν αὐτὸς ἔρχεσθαι). This is the time in which we live: the time to prepare for his coming. Jesus is coming, and our mission is to prepare his way. Not with speeches, but with concrete gestures of communion, with the emotion in the heart of one who knows that the beloved is about to arrive. Like a mother who prepares the house for her child, like a family that sets the table for a feast: because we love, because we wait, then we prepare.
“Wave to no one on the road”: no evasions
But the Lord also gives us a strong warning, “greet no one on the way” (μηδένα κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἀσπάσησθε). It is not an order of rudeness, but a call not to disperse. How many times, when faced with important decisions, we dawdle with excuses, we get sidetracked, we look for “greetings” -distractions- that in reality are escapes. This phrase is an examination of conscience: what are our greetings that get us off track? What evasions do we use to avoid responding to what God is asking of us today?
Evangelizing: awakening what is already there
And he goes on to say, “the harvest is plentiful” (ὁ μὲν θερισμὸς πολύς). It is not our task to change the whole world, but to reap what the Father has already sown. To evangelize is not to implant something new in the other, but to help him discover what is already in him. The Word we proclaim is a light that enables each person to recognize that God has always been within him.
Today we see two great temptations in the way we understand evangelization. One is that of the one who imposes harshly, as if the world were ruined and we should save it by shouting. The other is that of the comfortable silence, who out of misunderstood respect decides not to announce anything, as if to speak of Jesus were a form of violence. Both are false. We do not save the world – Christ has already done that – but we are sent to bring this light that awakens what is already there. To evangelize is not to bring God to others, but to help them recognize that He is already there.
Lambs among wolves: the power of tenderness
And the Lord tells us even more: “Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves” (ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλλω ὑμᾶς ὡς ἀρνὰς ἐν μέσῳ λύκων). To be lambs among wolves means to be vulnerable, to be exposed, unarmed. The apostle is the most fragile, because when he announces his faith, he exposes his deepest intimacy. And we are afraid, of course. All it takes is a mocking laugh, an ironic comment, and we feel that we have been wounded. But this vulnerability is also the place of promise: although we are lambs, the Lord is with us and will not leave us alone.
Evangelizing from need, not from power
Finally, the Gospel presents us with the poverty of the apostle. He who is sent brings neither money, nor power, nor resources, but the humble strength of one who knows how to beg. And this is also true for the Church: we do not evangelize out of abundance, but out of need. When we beg for bread, a welcome, a listening ear, we truly enter into communion. The one who gives from above can impose; the one who begs, on the other hand, puts himself at the level of the other. Knowing how to beg – to beg for love, time, listening – is the true door to evangelization.