The Lord appointed seventy (-two) others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”

Christian author C. S. Lewis, writer of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” adds a specifically Christian conclusion to “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.” Aslan, the God-figure of the stories, tells Lucy and Edmund and their friends that the reason why they experienced the adventures in the land of Narnia was for them to know that God would always be with them in the real world. He tells them, “In your world, I have another name.” In the story, the leaders of Narnia have trusted him through all of the trials of the final adventure. They found the seven swords of Telmar, they watched Eustace change into a friendly person by means of a transformation to a dragon, and they worked through Edmund’s thought of a sea serpent that practically destroyed them. Summarizing, Aslan tells them, “You have done well.” They had trusted in him, and at the same time worked as best they could to try to bring about what was good for Narnia.

Seventeen hundred years ago, St. Augustine wrote: “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” It is still an important directive for a person’s spiritual life. In the Gospels, Jesus constantly tells his followers to not only pray, but to do something about it themselves. Such is the pattern as Jesus sends out the seventy-two disciples in Luke’s Gospel. He tells them to pray for more harvest workers, but after they have prayed, they have to do the work of the harvest themselves as best they can. Jesus even gave them practical directions of what to do.

Luke’s consideration of the seventy-two in his Gospel presents the “pattern” of Christianity, the way Christianity is to grow. What the disciples were to do was to pray that they will have the help they need to evangelize, but after they prayed, they had to go out and do the work. Such is the way of Christianity. Aslan or God in the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” says the same. The leaders were to trust in him, and then they were to do the work.

Without too much imagination, the followers of Jesus can place themselves as one of the seventy-two in Luke’s Gospel. Our Christian task is to pray that there will be enough workers to spread the message of Jesus, and then at the same time, work to do it ourselves. Both are important. Praying to God for help makes us understand that we cannot do whatever it is without God; working to bring it about makes us understand how important we are. Likewise an important part of the pattern is that God directs how things will turn out. It stands to reason since our prayer begins with trust in God. If we do not accomplish what we think we should accomplish, we trust that God is directing it, whatever happens.

The prophet Isaiah once prayed to God: “You have accomplished all that we have done” (Isaiah 26:12). The theology of the prayer is significant: God is responsible for the good that we do, even though it seems that we are the ones who do it. Putting the thought into chronological order, it becomes: we pray to God about doing the best that we can, then we do the best that we can, and God brings about good results.

Good and gracious God, you bring about the good that happens in our world. Help us recognize that we must do our parts. Help us never forget, however, that it is you who brings about anything that is good. Be with us, we pray.

To accomplish any task, we must turn to God for help, and do the best we can.

1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. According to Jewish teaching at the time of Jesus, there were seventy-two nations in the world. The number seventy-two therefore has special significance. Probably the meaning was that eventually all nations would be evangelized. From what you know of the nations of the world, have most nations accepted God as creator? Yes or no and why?
3. Note the phrase “ahead of him,” that is, preparing for his coming into the towns. The disciples were not to give their own message; they were to prepare for Jesus. A criticism of Christian preachers is that they preach “their own message” rather than the message of Jesus. Do you believe that is true? Yes or no and why?
4. In what way were the disciples “lambs among wolves”?
5. Given Jesus’ practical advice, the disciples had to be completely dependent on the Lord and because they were to greet no one along the way, they were to be single-minded in their task. Do most Christians look upon the message of Jesus to be this urgent? Yes or no and why?
6. Note that the disciples should expect their needs to be taken care of. Do you believe that most Christians have this much trust in God? Yes or no and why?
7. As you study the practical directions that Jesus gives the seventy-two disciples–no money bag, no sack, no sandals–what is most striking about the directions? Why?
8. The workers in the harvest of Christianity are not only the leaders in the Church, that is, priests and religious, but the lay people as well. How do lay people “evangelize” in today’s world?
9. In your opinion, do most Christians understand their role in spreading the Christian message? Yes or no and why?
10. Scene analysis: Eustace becomes the dragon after putting on the gold bracelet. What is the significance of this scene?
11. Scene analysis: Reepicheep spends time with Eustace/dragon. What are the characteristics of a true friend?
12. Dialogue analysis: Reepicheep encourages Eustace/dragon to be strong and brave and Caspian encourages his crew to the same. What are the characteristics of a true leader of others in time of danger?
13. Scene analysis: the green mist turns into temptations. What is the best way to overcome temptations?
14. Scene analysis: Reepicheep goes to “Aslan’s dwelling” and Caspian almost goes . What is the significance of these actions?
15. Dialogue analysis: Aslan tells Lucy and Edmund that he will be watching them always in the real world. The obvious reference is that God will always be with us. How is God with us? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 51-67.
16. Scene analysis: Aslan tells Eustace that Narnia may have a need for Eustace, indicating that he may have a future adventure in Narnia. Why is it a true statement to say that God always has a need for us in our world?
17. What does the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” teach young people?