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Gospel Reading for July 09, 2025 – Matthew 10: 1-7
TRULY PRACTICE
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'”
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For their “internship,” the twelve were authorized and instructed by Jesus to minister to the Jews. But of course, “Charity Begins at Home.” But after his resurrection, he told them: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 6: 15). Thus, we are so blessed that the gospel was preached even to us in the Philippines. We may not have been the first, but perhaps this is what Jesus means when he says: “So the last shall be first, and the first, last” (Matthew 20: 16).
Hopefully, the Philippines will continue to be the country in Asia with the most Catholics, but not just Catholics in name. Hopefully, Filipinos are living witnesses of Christ who uphold Christian values in all aspects of life, and not dichotomized Christians who religiously attend Church activities but are not practicing Christian values at home, in schools, in places of work, etc..
If we TRULY PRACTICE Christian values, our country’s corruption score in 2024 would not have been 114 out of 180 countries in the world, with the highest number being the least corrupt. If we TRULY PRACTICE Christian values, our lawmakers would not be pushing to enact laws that are against Christian values. If we TRULY PRACTICE Christian values, there wouldn’t be so many poor families, people living in shanties, worse, people living under bridges and people who can afford to eat only one meal a day. If we TRULY PRACTICE Christian values, our country would be such a good place to live in!
Lord Jesus, through your Spirit, help us be like you to one another!
