＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     　

Hosea 14:2-10

Return to your God,

Yahweh, O Israel! Your sins have caused your downfall.

Return to Yahweh with humble words. Say to him, "Oh, you who show compassion to the fatherless, forgive our debt, be appeased.

 

Instead of bulls and sacrifices, accept the praise from our lips. Assyria will not save us: no longer shall we look for horses, nor ever again shall we say 'Our gods' to the work of our hands." I will heal their disloyalty and love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them.

 

I shall be like dew to Israel, like the lily will he blossom.

Like a cedar, he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow and spread. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar. They will dwell in my shade again, they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like a vine, and their fame will be like Lebanon wine.

 

What would Ephraim do with idols, when it is I who hear and make him prosper? I am like an ever-green cypress tree; all your fruitfulness comes from me.

Who is wise enough to grasp all this? Who is discerning and will understand? Straight are the ways of Yahweh: the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.

 

Ps 51:3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14, 17 My mouth will declare your praise.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Matthew 10:16-23

Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard with people, for they will hand you over to their courts, and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, so that you may witness to them and the pagans.

 

But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father, speaking through you. Brother will hand over his brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.

 

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, you will not have passed through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Use our God-given intelligence."

In our faith journey, there are times when our good intentions are not carried out because we lack the necessary skills to do so. There are times when we have the best of ideas and the purest of intentions and yet we fail because we do not strategize. Intelligence is a gift from God. It must be used not for one's selfish interest but for the good of others and for making our world a better place to live in.

 

This is part of our mission as Jesus' followers. Matthew's Gospel is designed according to five discourses. The teachings found in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Mt. 5-7) constitute the first discourse. The second discourse, found in Matthew 10, is the so-called missionary discourse. In this second discourse, Jesus' missionary instructions are found.

 

Today's Gospel is situated within the second discourse. We are challenged to continue our faith journey while strengthening our missionary spirit. In today's Gospel, Jesus instructed his disciples to be as clever as serpents and as innocent as doves because they are sent like sheep among wolves. There always will be serious difficulties. We have to use our God-given intelligence to face such difficulties while we participate in God's mission.