13 July, 2023 | Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel Mt 10:7-15
Jesus said to his Apostles:
"As you go, make this proclamation:
'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;
no sack for the journey, or a second tunic,
or sandals, or walking stick.
The laborer deserves his keep.
Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,
and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town."
Reflections
In the Gospel of today, we come to realize two very important things: the urgency of the mission and making oneself free from anything that would hinder the mission. Pope Francis said on the occasion of the Extraordinary Missionary Month in October 2019: “I am mission.” Jesus empowers the apostles to bring healing to the sick; the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. The topmost priority is mission. Rightly so, Pope Francis in the Apostolic Constitution “Predicate Evangelium” gives highest importance to the work of Evangelization, thus affirming the missionary nature of the church. “Church is at the service of Evangelization, so that Christ, the light of the peoples, may be known and witnessed to in word and deed and that his mystical body, which is the Church, may be built up.”
Activity:
How can I help someone who is struggling to follow Jesus?
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