For every disciple to truly become “the salt of the earth and the light of the world” — that is the goal of “I Am the 73rd,” an evangelization initiative of El Sembrador-Nueva Evangelización, a Catholic network also known as ESNE.
For 33 days, those who participate in this encounter with Jesus will travel a path that will lead them to consecrate themselves to him.
“During this time, one reads and meditates over the four Gospels; prays a daily rosary; observes Wednesday as a day of fast; and participates in five virtual formation sessions. At the end of this preparation, one participates in a Holy Mass of consecration,” ESNE explains on its website. The Los Angeles-based media apostolate also operates a radio station and broadcasts across the southwestern United States, Mexico and Spain. It often transmits Masses, prayers and devotional content.
OSV News spoke with Rosie Sayes, executive director of content for ESNE TV, about this initiative — which is available in Spanish and English — and how it has changed the lives of many Catholics who have consecrated themselves to Jesus Christ.
Sayes said that “Yo Soy el 73/I Am the 73rd” is for anyone “who is hungry to get to know Jesus better.” She added that although the initiative already existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was during the pandemic lockdowns, amid moments of trial and uncertainty, that many faithful sought to become part of a community of faith like “I Am the 73rd.” Since then, she said, this consecration has taken on more strength, conquering hearts and saving souls.
This project, as Sayes explained, was born from the heart of Noel Diaz, layman and founder of the El Sembrador apostolate. “He is looking for new ways to evangelize, for people to have this encounter, and one of the ways he felt it was needed was by making people fall in love even more through the Word of God,” Sayes said.
She also explained that Diaz “has always said that you cannot love what you do not know,” and that is why this Catholic project, which develops its activities through Zoom, focuses on knowing the Word to be able to love the Son of God deeply and genuinely.
The name of this evangelizing project, its website explains, comes from a passage in the Gospel according to St. Luke, “in which our Lord Jesus Christ sends out 72 disciples to go ‘ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit'” (Lk 10:1). The project’s name signifies “the need of being the 73(rd) disciple to continue the evangelical mission that Jesus entrusted to the Church.”
“Unfortunately, most of us Catholics are not in the habit of encountering Jesus Christ in the reading of his Word,” reads a Spanish-language statement shared with OSV News. “I Am 73rd aims to bring every Catholic to an encounter through the Holy Scriptures.”
The statement also reads, “We are witnessing many conversions and life transformations through this evangelization project. There is a great hunger and urgency for God in the midst of this world wounded by violence, corruption, perversions, and abuses of power.”
Last year, on Nov. 28, representatives of ESNE TV and the El Sembrador apostolate were received by Pope Francis at the Holy See. During that audience, the Holy Father thanked the group for “bringing the voice and the message of the pope to so many people in the United States and in other Spanish-speaking countries” and praised their work to share the Mass, formation material and church news to those who are homebound.
“I thank you also, and above all, because with your work you are close to so many immigrants from various countries in Latin America, who need points of reference, messages of consolation in their mother tongue,” he said, according to Catholic News Service. “Do not stop doing this.”
He also stressed the need to share the Gospel, mentioning ESNE’s evangelization project by name and highlighting the importance of using modern media to evangelize.
“I have heard of the fine project ‘Yo soy el 73,’ a special consecration to Jesus to build a community of evangelizers capable of communicating the joy of the Gospel and God’s mercy. And today we have a great need for disciples who continue the mission entrusted by the Lord, by Jesus Christ, also evangelized through the communications media. Thank you for the work you do,” said the pontiff in his greeting to the delegation.
Hearing those words, Sayes told OSV News, filled the group with joy and renewed their commitment. “We feel that God gave us the blessing and the seal in this project to still walk with more strength,” she added.
Following the consecration to Jesus, participants commit to living “conformed to the heart of Jesus” and become “living testimonies of (Jesus’) mercy,” according to the project’s webpage. Participants can join communities — currently located in California, México and El Salvador — and continue to receive ongoing faith formation.
One of the examples of lives transformed by this evangelization project are Ruth Castro and her husband, Francisco, who are parishioners of St. Anthony’s Church in Upland, California, and both are consecrated to Jesus through the “I Am the 73rd” initiative.
“I had previously been invited to consecrations and things like that. I had never accepted to go to any, but in 2022, I called the ESNE radio station because I heard they were going to give catechism classes. They told me, ‘We don’t have catechism; you’re mistaken,'” recalls Ruth, who is a catechist and server in her parish.
But they gave her a phone number and told her, “Send a message on WhatsApp, and they will answer you.” So, she reached out to that number. “They put me in a group and it turns out that this group was a Zoom group, and they had already started the classes. So, when I joined, it was already the second or third day of the course,” said Ruth, who is grateful for the happy misunderstanding that made her consecrate herself to Jesus. She added that she tried to share her testimony with everyone she meets, hoping to lead more souls to salvation.
“In October 2022, we were consecrated together, but (Ruth) had already taken the class; she just waited for me,” Francisco said .
Francisco also shared how this consecration radically changed his life. “Before, I heard in the talks, ‘You cannot give what you don’t have,'” he recalled, and while completing the program, he understood what it meant.
“Now I do have something to give!” he said. “Before I didn’t have God because I didn’t get involved in anything, but now I know about him, I know his ways and now I want to walk with him.”
To learn more about this initiative, go to https://elsembradorministries.com/esne/iam73.
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