7/10/2025 (Thursday) Today’s Gospel Reading: Matthew 10:7-15

7 Jesus said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
9 Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;
10 no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep.
11 Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave.
12 As you enter a house, wish it peace.
13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.
14 Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
15 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.”

7/10/2025 (Thursday) Today’s Gospel Reflection / Homily / Sermon: Matthew 10:7-15

The Gospel reading above speaks about mission, trust in God’s provision, simplicity, discernment, and the urgency of sharing the good news. In a world that measures success by how much we accumulate including titles, possessions, followers, and likes, there’s a different call, a deeper mission, and it often starts not with a grand plan but with a willing heart and open hands. You don’t need to be perfect to step forward. You just need to say yes.

Imagine being sent into unfamiliar towns with nothing but the clothes on your back. No suitcase, no wallet, not even a backup plan. That’s how the earliest messengers of God’s love were commissioned. They were told to go, not with heavy baggage, but with light spirits. Why? Because the message they carried was the most powerful thing they possessed. They weren’t there to impress, they were there to bless.

This kind of journey demands radical and unshakable trust. It means believing that as you walk forward, doors will open. Meals will be offered. Peace will find you, or flow through you. It’s about depending not on what you bring but on what God provides along the way.

Take for example a young woman who takes a year off to volunteer in a remote village. She has no salary, no internet, and very little contact with her former life. But each day, as she taught local children under a tin roof, people began bringing her meals, inviting her into their homes, asking for prayer. She didn’t have much but her presence gave others hope. She told me later that she received far more than she ever gave. That is the heart of the call.

There is an urgency to this mission. The world is aching for hope, for healing, for something that transcends headlines and heartbreak. And that’s where you come in. You carry something eternal. When you speak kindness in a bitter room, when you extend forgiveness instead of revenge, when you lift someone who’s fallen, you are declaring that another way is possible. A way of love, of justice, of healing.

But not every place will welcome this light. Some hearts are hardened. Some rooms remain closed. You’re not called to argue or beg for entry. You’re called to offer peace and if it’s not received, to walk on with grace. Rejection isn’t failure. It’s direction. Even closed doors can guide your path.

There is wisdom in knowing when to stay and when to move on. If someone welcomes your light, stay awhile. Be present. Listen. Let your presence bring healing, not just in words but in how you live. And if someone mocks or dismisses what you bring, don’t take it personally. Even the greatest were not received everywhere.

This is not a call for the fearless but for the faithful. You might feel unqualified. You might worry you have nothing to offer. But what matters most isn’t your skill. It’s your willingness. Will you show up? Will you speak love in the face of fear? Will you trust that where God sends you, provision and purpose will follow?

Your mission might not involve distant villages or desert roads. It might be your office, your school, your neighborhood, your home. Every encounter is a chance to share light. You don’t need fancy words. Sometimes the most powerful message is your presence, your peace, your quiet courage.

So go with open hands. Not with rehearsed speeches but with real compassion. Not trying to change the world in a day, but ready to change someone’s world in a moment. The journey won’t always be easy. But you are never alone. And the message you carry? It’s alive. It heals. It changes everything.

Go and let the good news walk on your feet and speak through your life. The world needs it. Give love and it will return to you a thousand fold.

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