I’ve mastered the skill of getting the strongest Wi-Fi signals anywhere I go. My secret? I move closer to the hotspot. I look for the wireless router and stay close to it. 

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” God’s reign has come, inviting us to repentance and making His salvation available to all.

That’s grace. Because His favor, love, and forgiveness are gifts we don’t deserve. They can’t be won or earned through work or effort. No matter how hard we strive, we will never be as holy and righteous as God. But even though we can’t get to God, He comes to us and shows us His kindness. He does what it takes to close the gap between Him and us. 

So the next time you need a strong signal in life, remember the Holy Hotspot has come to you so you can connect to Him. Randy Borromeo (randy.b@svrtv.com) 

Reflect:

Grace is not man coming to God but God coming to man. 

Lord, thank You for meeting us where we are and walking with us to where You want us to go. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Saint Amalberga, pray for us.

Riches and blessings can lead to complacency. When we are grateful for all that God has given us, we remember the true source of all blessings. Let us have the proper perspective on our achievements and avoid falling into complacency like Israel did. God is the source of the good that we have and do in our lives. 

¹ Israel is a luxuriant vine whose fruit matches its growth. The more abundant his fruit, the more altars he built; The more productive his land, the more sacred pillars he set up. ² Their heart is false, now they pay for their guilt; God shall break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars. ³ If they would say, “We have no king,” since they do not fear the Lord, what can the king do for them? ⁷ The king of Samaria shall disappear, like foam upon the waters. ⁸ The high places of Aven shall be destroyed, the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles shall overgrow their altars. Then they shall cry out to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall upon us!” ¹² “Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; Break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain down justice upon you.” 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R: Seek always the face of the Lord. 

² Sing to him, sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds. ³ Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord! (R) ⁴ Look to the Lord in his strength; seek to serve him constantly. ⁵ Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought, his portents, and the judgments he has uttered. (R) ⁶ You descendants of Abraham, his servants, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! ⁷ He, the Lord, is our God; throughout the earth his judgments prevail. (R) 

Gospel | Matthew 10:1-7

Jesus tells His Apostles to go first to the Jewish people rather than to the Gentiles. He does this possibly because the Jews should have been more disposed to the Gospel due to the Law and the prophets. He knows that the Jews, in rejecting the Gospel, will make it all the more convincing that the Good News is for both Gentile and Jew. Today, the Gospel is preached to all the nations. Let us get on with this task.

Gospel Acclamation

The Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel. 

¹ Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. ² The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brotherJohn; ³ Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; ⁴ Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. ⁵ Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” 

Read the Bible in one year! Read PSALMS 16 - 20 today.

There is nothing impossible with God. He can do all things exceedingly well. He is self-contained and He needs no one to complete Himself. He is in Himself total, whole, absolute. That is why He is sovereign. In truth, He is not the greatest of all gods. He is the One and Only God, and there is no other God besides Him. 

Our Gospel reading today, however, tells a different story. Jesus calls twelve men not just to be followers but to be apostles or persons to be sent. To these Twelve, Jesus even “gave authority” to do tasks that He had been doing: driving out demons, healing infirmities of every kind, and even raising up the dead and cleansing lepers. In spite of their many imperfections, the Twelve were partners in mission and were to be the foundation stones of the community of faith—the Church. 

The motive for Jesus’ action is pure graciousness. In fact, Jesus declares: “Without pay you have received, without pay you are to give” (read Matthew 10:8). Love, they say, flows like a river, and the love of God, therefore, expresses itself in pure grace. 

Come to think of it, God in Jesus does this for us—for our good and for our guidance. First, for our own good, God’s actions are pure grace since we, on our own, have no claims nor merits to receive God’s provisions and benevolence. Second, our broken humanity has a strong urge to keep and hoard blessings only for ourselves. We have the tendency to look after our bloated selves. We need to be taught—not by words but by examples—about the redemptive value of looking out and beyond ourselves. We need to see how goodness becomes multiplied when we become channels, not dams. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP 

Reflection Question:

How do you practice graciousness and gracefulness with the graces that come to you?

Today, I pray for: _________________________________________