Matthew 10:7-15

Hosea 11:1-4, 8e-9

Psalm 80L2ac and 3b, 15-16

Matthew 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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are love itself. This is a mystery that far surpasses my understanding. Each day, I hope to be immersed a little more into the depths of your love. You love the Son with an eternal love and draw me into that communion of love with your Spirit.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Hosea’s Images: Throughout his book, the prophet Hosea used the image of a husband and wife to speak about God’s relationship to Israel. Although God was faithful to Israel and sent prophets to the people to bring them back, Israel was unfaithful to God, worshiped foreign gods, and rejected both God’s law, communicated through Moses, and God’s word, communicated through the prophets. Now, Hosea employs the image of a loving parent toward their child to affirm that, through the covenant, God will offer to Israel the gift of sonship. While the image of a husband and wife stresses the mutual relationship of faithful, compassionate love, and mutual responsibility, the image of a parent and child stresses the gratuitous and merciful actions of God toward Israel: he taught Israel how to walk, he took Israel into his arms, he heals Israel. God even stoops down to feed his child. These actions are ultimately brought to fulfillment in Jesus Christ: he teaches his apostles and disciples to walk in the light, he takes them into his arms like sheep and little children, and he heals them physically and spiritually. Through the Incarnation, God stoops down in an unheard-of way: he comes to his people and brings them the New Manna of the Eucharist.

2. God’s Just and Merciful Love: Today’s First Reading also highlights a difference between the prophets Hosea and Amos. Last week we heard God’s judgment, which is unremitting in Amos. Judgment is balanced this week in Hosea by a message of compassion and mercy (Leclerc, Introduction to the Prophets, 153). We learn that God’s heart is moved by pity and instead of destroying Israel for continually breaking the covenant, God promises to save Israel from the flames. The Psalm humbly asks God to look down from heaven, from his heavenly throne, and take care of Israel, which is likened to a vine that needs protection. All three images (husband and wife; parent and child; vine-dresser and vine) tell us something about God’s love: his love is faithful and compassionate; his love is gracious, gratuitous, and merciful; his love gives life, protects, and saves.

3. The Missionary Sermon: In the Gospel, Jesus continues his second great discourse in the Gospel of Matthew, called the missionary sermon. After the twelve were appointed as Jesus’ Apostles, they were sent out to preach the core of Jesus’ message: “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” By asking the Apostles to travel without money, a second tunic, sandals, or walking stick, Jesus is asking them to place their trust in God and testify, through their actions, to the Kingdom: “By traveling in such simplicity, they will be a prophetic sign bearing witness to Jesus’ teaching that the heavenly Father will provide for those who seek first the kingdom and trust in him” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 144). The apostles will encounter both those who welcome them with hospitality and those who reject the proclamation of the kingdom. Those who welcome Jesus and his disciples receive the gift of peace; those who reject Jesus and his disciples will be judged more severely than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have done marvelous and wondrous things. There is a beautiful simplicity in all that you do. Instead of doing everything yourself, you entrusted your disciples, including me, with a mission and gave clear instructions. Help me to hear your instruction anew and conform my preaching of the Gospel to your Word.

Living the Word of God: How do I relate to God? Is God primarily my judge, my friend, my Lord, my bridegroom, or my Father? What experiences in my life have shaped this relationship?