“At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit…”

Our readings continue to give us a crash course in discipleship, and today we see Jesus sending out His disciples for the first time on mission. They are sent out ahead of Jesus to prepare those towns for His arrival. This is a great image for what happens at the end of every Mass. We are fed with the Word of God and the Holy Eucharist and then sent out into the world to prepare people to meet Jesus. That means that your job as a disciple really begins when you leave our St. Dominic parking lot. The mission field is waiting on us, on disciples of Jesus who have been sent out to bring good news. So what can you start doing today that will allow you to begin achieving the mission God has given you.

So we will start today. Today and each of the days this week you will go places. You will go home. You will go to work. You will go to the store. You will stop by a neighbor’s house. But the difference this week, if you say yes to your mission, is that you will pray before you go. Not necessarily a long prayer, but a very intentional prayer. Your mission this week is to pray before you go or arrive at any of these places this simple prayer:

Lord Jesus, send your Holy Spirit upon me and every person I meet. Give me the opportunity to evangelize and share your love with someone today. Amen.

That’s it. Pray that throughout the week whenever you go anywhere. Then see what happens. Next week we will share what happened when we prayed that prayer: what doors were opened, what conversations took place. Let’s keep each other in prayer as we fulfill our mission as disciples of Jesus!