Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Thursday of the fourteenth week in ordinary time, July 9, 2026

Delivered by Samuel Ivan Gunarta from the Parish of Mary of All the Nations in the Diocese of Bogor, Indonesia. Hosea 11: 1b.3-4.8c-9; Rs psalm 80: 2ac.3b.15-16; Matthew 10: 7-15.FREELY RECEIVE FREELY GIVE The theme for our meditation today is: Freely ReceiveFreely Give. There was a grade 5 elementary school boy who was asking hismother, as he said: "Mommy, which one goes first, to give or toreceive?" His mother immediately replied, "What is obvious is togive." Then the boy said, "So give me money because I want buy mytoys." We all should agree that to give is the first, because this is whatGod always does towards us. Our lives as human beings and the gift of faith inus are indeed God's gifts to us. In today's Gospel, we see the commission of Jesus tothe apostles, which is to give, to bring the name of Jesus Christ to everyone,and to present His kingdom that brings justice and comfort to those who receiveit. Then Jesus concluded His message by saying this to them: "Without costyou have received; without cost you are to give" or freely receive freelygive. Jesus also addresses this to us, that when we give or share the Lord'sgift, it must be free of charge. For example, the apostles had received all thedivine wisdom and gift for free, so they should preach them for free too. Theyshould not take any advantage of whatever God's work that they did. It was equally evident to the Israelites who hadreceived all the goodness of God especially when God defended, nurtured andmade them a chosen people of God. In fact, according to the prophet Amos, whenthis nation suffered being exiled in the foreign land other than their own landof the Palestine, the Lord God had always His pity on them. God indeed punishedthem for the sins they had committed but later God comforted them and gave themhope for their liberation. They also must follow the example of God to be kindand generous toward one another and other people foreign to them as well. The act of freely receive freely give is the way howwe imitate the Lord Jesus Christ. We also imitate Our Lady, the Blessed VirginMary, Saint Joseph, the apostles, Saint Paul, Saint John the Baptist and allthe other Saints. Our own parents are also the examples for us of thislifestyle, because they give everything to each of us and they never ask forreward or payment. What is really unpleasant and discouraging is that there arechildren who should have pleased their parents with their good deeds and exemplarylives, but instead cause troubles by hurting and showing unkind manner to themto their death. So our good news today would be this: we like to bealways in the way of Jesus Christ, because we have freely received so much fromanywhere and anyone, and so we are happy to give them freely as well. Let usnot be so obsessed to be given importance and served of all cost, but let us begenerous to give what we should give to God and to our neighbors.Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord our God, strengthen us with YourSpirit, that is, the Spirit of selfless love, so that our lives will beenriched with love that covers all people. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In thename of the Father ...