Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Wednesday of the fourteenth week in ordinary time, July 8, 2026

Delivered by Joanna from the Parish of Saint Thomas the Apostle in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Hosea 10: 1-3.7-8.12; Rs psalm 105: 2-3.4-5.6-7; Matthew 10: 1-7.FINDING THE LOST The theme for our meditation today is: Finding theLost. There was a story about the leader of Satan went to meet God. Heprotested, that every time those sent into the world were angels, then prophetsand the top of all was the Son of God himself. The leader of Satan urged thathe himself or his representatives be given opportunity to be sent as well. But God did not fulfill the demand of Satan. Thereason was because Satan's main mission was to destroy and eliminate whateverbelongs to God, while the work of God and persons sent to the world were thosewith the duty to find out and bring back what had been lost because of Satan'swork. This means that, if there is freedom and opportunity in favor of Satan, hewill be more enjoyable with his mission and that would bring more damages andelimination from God’s side. Jesus Christ is the Lord, the Son of God, who seeksand finds the lost. When He was still alive on earth, He did this mission tofulfill the will of the Father during his public works. This mission then wascontinued by the apostles who were sent in the name of Jesus for the samepurpose, namely to find the lost ones. Jesus told them to focus on the lost sheepof the Israelites. They obeyed to fulfill this duty. The commission of the twelve apostles is related tothe twelve tribes of Israel. They were the chosen people who accepted andcontinued the teachings of God for all mankind. But they were not the holdersof all truth. They were chosen to mediate the great deeds of God to the world.Jesus Christ is the principle messenger of God himself who came into the worldthrough this chosen people. So the Lord Jesus wanted the twelve apostles torealize the mission, that is to unite the scattered children of God. They wereasked to strengthen the unity of people as a nation chosen and blessed by God.Jesus Christ wished this unity is strongly rooted with all the truth which isfrom God and is brought throughout the world reaching out all nations andcultures. This was realized by the foundation of the Church after the Ascensionof Jesus. Now the duty of the Church is to make Christ and His gospel known toall nations of the world. The good news for us today is that we should firstmake ourselves strong, mature, capable and available men and women of Christ,before we can bring our brothers and sisters to come and to meet God. We shouldnot be like Pharisees who were able to teach and speak but by their own livesthey kept people away from God. We must depart from ourselves, then we reachout and guide others to the Lord. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord Jesus Christ, teach us to be trueexamples for our neighbors through our words and deeds every day. Glory to theFather and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...