Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 10: 7-15
July 10, 2025 | Thursday

Today’s Gospel

Go, and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. Freely have you received, freely give. Do not carry any gold or silver or money in your purses. Do not take a traveling bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick: workers deserve to be compensated.

When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person, and stay there until you leave. When you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people are worthy people, your peace will rest on them; if they are not worthy people, your blessing will come back to you. And if you are not welcomed, and your words are not listened to, leave that house or that town, and shake the dust off your feet. I assure you, it will go easier for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of

judgment, then it will for the people of that town.

Today’s Reflection

Jesus gave the Apostles a direct command: “Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.” We cannot spread the Good News by staying where we are and waiting for people to come to us. We have to reach out to everyone— family members, social or business associates, casual acquaintances, strangers, or everyone we meet wherever we go—who needs to know Christ. If need be, we have to go to other places so we may spread the Word.

Christ’s mandate to the Apostles is to “heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons.” These are uncommon abilities that we do not have. Yet, when Jesus commissioned us to be missionaries, He empowered us so that our efforts would bear good fruit. We may not be able to heal or bring someone back to life physically. Still, when we bring the Lord’s message of love, repentance, and salvation, we become instruments of his spiritual healing and restoration to a fully integrated life. When we follow the command to love our neighbor, we reach out to the “lepers” in our society – the rejected, the outcasts, the unloved – and touch their lives to purge them of the discrimination and segregation they suffer. We may not be trained to exorcise those possessed by evil spirits, but those we lead to Christ could find the path to liberate themselves from their personal demons and fixations on sin and addictions.

Jesus reminds us that we have to undertake our mission without any thought of reward for “without cost, you have received; without cost, you are to give.” In the way we have received God’s blessings, we are to share said blessings with others. Jesus goes against conventional wisdom that any endeavor – including the work of evangelization – requires resources. He directs us to travel lightly, take nothing for the journey, go without any provisions, and trust solely in His providence and generosity. We are not to rely on our talents and skills alone but on His promise of guidance and grace. Our loyalty must be to God and not to any person or entity who may provide for our temporal needs. Evangelization should not be an avenue to acquire assets, advantage, approval, or admiration. Whatever we have is a gift freely given by God; whatever we receive must be freely given to others without thought of reward or recompense. God is alive and active in our lives at all times. Our faith should open us to accept His providential presence and totally trust in His love and generosity as we go out on our mission.

/Vulnerasti, 2025