Mission and reconciliation are prominent topics in the readings. The people of the Old Covenant received their mission through Moses. We, the people of the New Covenant receive our mission through Jesus. What is our mission? We are commissioned and sent to proclaim loud and clear to all and sundry that the kingdom of God has come.

The Gospel passage reminds us that Jesus chooses some of His disciples for specific tasks, that is not to say that the others have nothing to do. The whole Church is missionary, each of the baptised is duty bound to spread the Gospel to the best of his or her ability. There are many ways of doing that. But the basic and most important contribution which we can make is to live a deep Christian life.

Before considering whether or not we are doing anything to spead the Gospel we might consider our attitude towards the project. Do we think about the matter? Jesus sent the apostles because He had compassion on the crowds. There are millions who have never heard of Christ. How does that fact impinge upon us? St John Chrysostom wrote: 'Nothing is colder than a Christian who does not care for the salvation of others'.Today's Gospel may well be a call to us to break out of our little ice cubes.