The Gospel of Luke tells us that those seventy-two came back from their mission full of joy because they had experienced the power of Christ’s name over evil. Jesus says it: to these disciples he gives the power to defeat the evil one. But he adds, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). We should not boast as if we were the protagonists: there is only one protagonist, the Lord! The Lord’s grace is the protagonist. He is the one hero. And our joy is just this: to be his disciples, his friends.
—Excerpted from The Joy of Discipleship by Pope Francis