July 8, 2026 Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mt 10:1-7
Today is Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew presents us with the account of Jesus sending forth His twelve apostles to proclaim the Gospel, granting them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every kind of disease and infirmity. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
First: Saint Matthew tells us that Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every kind of disease and infirmity (cf. Mt 10:1).
We know that Israel had twelve tribes. In the same way, Jesus gathered twelve disciples and sent them to the twelve tribes of Israel.
When Jesus sent them to drive out unclean spirits, what does “unclean spirits” refer to? It refers to those things that hinder us from knowing God and approaching Him—such as money, wealth, fame, social status, all forms of vanity, and the ideologies that imprison us. By sending them to drive out unclean spirits, Jesus was calling them to proclaim the word of God, using it as a weapon to courageously overcome the flesh, the world, and the devil. When Jesus sent them to heal every kind of disease, He intended not only the healing of physical illnesses but also the curing of the diseases inflicted upon the human soul by sin, so that through the grace given by Jesus Christ, the afflicted might find restoration.
Next, Matthew lists the names of the twelve apostles (cf. Mt 10:2-4). Among these apostles, some were fishermen who supported themselves by their own labor—such as Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John (cf. Mt 10:2). Others had received a good education, such as the tax collector Matthew (cf. Mt 10:3). Each had a different background, different relationships, and different temperaments. Yet, called by Christ, they came together to share in the mission of proclaiming the word of God. This very diversity reflects the Catholicity of the Church. Jesus did not demand uniformity from them; He embraced those with different personalities and backgrounds, so that each might fully employ their gifts in the fitting proclamation of the Gospel to the world.
In our Church today, there are many who, due to differing theological opinions or varying understandings of the Church’s hierarchy, have chosen to depart from us. Here, I invite all brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for them, asking the Lord to guide their thoughts and actions, and to lead them to imitate the apostolic community of the early Church—always in communion with the representative of Christ, Saint Peter and his successors—and, like the apostles of the early Church, to bear witness to the truth through their lives and concrete actions.
O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
July 7, 2026 Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mt 9:32-38
Today is Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew presents to us the comments people made regarding what Jesus did during His time, as well as Jesus’ response to them. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
First, Matthew tells us that Jesus caused a mute person possessed by a demon to speak (cf. Mt 9:32-34). People said that Jesus did this not by the power of His being the Messiah of God, but by Beelzebul, a god of the Gentiles. Who is Beelzebul? Beelzebul was an idol worshipped by the Philistines in the plain of Sharon; there was a temple dedicated to him in Ekron. Originally a deity associated with healing calamities, some Jews, when they did not receive grace from their God, would secretly go to Ekron to seek healing from Beelzebul. Therefore, this was clearly a pagan false god. Those who followed the thinking of this false god were precisely those who refused to accept what Jesus taught concerning the ways of God’s world. The reason the Jews refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah of God was that they longed for a Messiah who would lead them to victory over the Roman Empire.
Next, Matthew tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds, He called them sheep without a shepherd (cf. Mt 9:36-38). This did not mean they had no shepherds, but rather that those who preached God to them were leading them away from what Jesus proclaimed about God. For the Pharisees taught the people through parables; in interpreting the Law, they included ancestral prohibitions, customs, and traditions—what they called the traditions of the elders. The God preached by the Sadducees was a God who excessively demanded sacrifices; whoever did not offer sacrifices to this God would be severely punished. Our Lord Jesus Christ preached a God who delights in His people—not a harsh God, nor a God who loves sacrifices, but a God who takes the initiative to give and constantly draws near to His creation. Therefore, He placed special emphasis on care for parents rather than replacing such care with sacrifices and Mass offerings. The scribes, priests, and elders of the people came precisely from among them. The Herodians were soldiers of King Herod, who deceived the Jews by claiming that Herod was the Messiah. Influenced by them, the Jews were greatly troubled, to the point that they no longer knew who God truly was or how to understand the Law of God. Jesus compared these Jews to a harvest, and those who preached the word of God to workers.
Saint John Chrysostom tells us that Jesus implicitly revealed Himself as the Master, for He Himself is the Lord of the harvest. If He sent the Apostles to reap what they had not sown, it was clearly not to reap another’s harvest, but to gather what He had sown through the prophets. Although the Twelve Apostles were workers, He said, “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers,” yet He did not add to their number; rather, He multiplied these Twelve many times over—not by increasing their numbers, but by granting them more abundant grace (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea, vol. 1, Commentary on Matthew).
Today, we often encounter people who have lost their ability to speak or are physically disabled. We frequently choose to keep our distance from them, fearing that associating with them might bring misfortune upon ourselves. We may even think that their illness is entirely justified, that we have no obligation to help them, and that their life or death is none of our concern. When such thoughts arise in our hearts, we become like the Pharisees—concerned only for our own lives and unwilling to care for the lives of others. Therefore, let us strive to imitate the virtue of Jesus Christ, set aside our own fixations, and see the world through the eyes of Jesus.
O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
July 6, 2026 Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time / Optional Memorial of Saint Maria Goretti Gospel: Matthew 9:18–26
Today is Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of Saint Maria Goretti. The Roman Martyrology tells us: Saint Maria Goretti (1890–1902) was born in Corinaldo near Ancona, Italy, the third of six children. She was known for her cheerfulness and piety. At the age of twelve, while resisting an attacker, she was mortally wounded and shed her blood defending her chastity. Before dying in the hospital, she forgave her murderer. Her assailant was subsequently imprisoned and experienced a profound conversion of heart; he was present at her canonization in 1950 and later lived out his days as a Capuchin brother.
Today’s Gospel passage from Saint Matthew presents us with two accounts of healing by Jesus. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
First, Matthew tells us that an official came and knelt before Jesus, asking Him to restore his deceased daughter to life (cf. Mt 9:18). Who was this official? Matthew does not tell us. Luke identifies him as Jairus, the synagogue leader of Capernaum (cf. Lk 8:41). He could have commanded Jesus to come to his house to restore his daughter, yet he did not. Instead, as a father, he knelt before Jesus and begged Him to raise his daughter to life. He sets an example for us; the faith he demonstrated is admirable and worthy of our imitation.
Next, Matthew introduces us to another person in need of Jesus’ healing: a woman suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years (cf. Mt 9:20–22). She courageously stepped beyond the legal boundaries of her time, for the Law clearly stated that anyone with a flow of blood, or anything touched by such a person, was ritually unclean. She displayed a different kind of courage, marked by prudence; she did not touch Jesus directly but reached out to touch the tassel of His cloak. By her faith, she was healed.
Finally, I would like to reflect on what Jesus said when He arrived at Jairus’ house. He said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but asleep.” And they ridiculed Him (cf. Mt 9:23–24). When He said she was asleep, He intended to show that although the world saw her as dead, in God’s eyes she was still alive. For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Do you recall what Jesus said to the Sadducees—who denied the resurrection—when discussing the resurrection? Jesus said to them: “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection from the dead do not marry, nor can they die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. Even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive” (cf. Lk 20:34–38).
Today, having received the Baptism of Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are called to be His children. We must learn to view life and death through the lens of faith, live out the love of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ in our earthly lives, and worthily love this world—by meeting the Risen Lord Jesus Christ through firm faith, earnest hope, and the reception of His Most Precious Body and Blood.
O God, author of innocence and lover of chastity, who bestowed the grace of martyrdom on your handmaid, the Virgin Saint Maria Goretti, in her youth, grant, we pray, through her intercession, that, as you gave her a crown for her steadfastness, so we, too, may be firm in obeying your commandments. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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