I begin today’s Sunday Sermon of Week Eleven of the Church’s Ordinary Time Cycle A with the Gospel of Matthew 9:36-10:8.
Jesus moves through the towns and villages of Galilee, a northern region defined by its fertile farms, bustling fishing ports, and dusty trade routes. Galilee is the home of laborers and the men and women of daily life who struggle to pay their bills. Life here is shaped by the harsh reality of Roman taxes, physical illness, and the relentless sun. People wake early, walk far, work tirelessly, and carry burdens that weigh heavily upon body and soul.
As Jesus walks these ordinary roads, entering marketplaces, synagogues, and fishing docks, he sees people worn down by the toll of laborious existence. He looks upon Nazareth, Capernaum, and Chorazin, seeing untreated sickness and hope eroded by struggle. He does not look with the straight face of a judge, but with the heart of a Shepherd. His heart is moved with pity because the people are troubled and abandoned. He recognizes the harvest of human history is ripening, but the laborers who truly care for the soul are few.
Answered Prayers
Jesus answers his own prayer for laborers, for he is the Lord who hears, by summoning twelve men. By calling them to send them for mission, he is demonstrating to us who pray that such prayers receive his attention. The ones he chose and sent are not scholars or aristocrats. They are men shaped by boats and tax booths, normal people like the Galileans on the streets.
He gives them authority over everything that destroys human dignity including sickness, evil, and despair, and sends them to the “lost sheep of Israel” with a radical proclamation: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” They are to give freely what they have freely received, turning the gift of mercy into a movement of healing.
This mission carries the resonances of an ancient encounter. Centuries earlier, Israel stood at the base of Mount Sinai, a pointed granite wilderness rising from the desert floor. Having just escaped the crushing iron furnace of Egyptian slavery, they were a frightened, unformed people. In the shadow of those peaks, the Lord reminded them that he had carried them on “eagle wings.” (cf. Exodus 19: 2-6a).
Sinai was not merely a place of Law. It was a place of Covenant. Now, in the streets of Galilee, Jesus fulfills the Sinai promise. He looks at the lost with the same compassion that once carried slaves out of Egypt, forming a new community to carry that ancient mercy into a wounded world.
We are Not Saved Because We Improved
Paul captures the depth of this divine movement in his letter to the Romans 5:6-11. He observes that Christ did not wait for us to become just or good before acting. He died for us while we were still helpless, sinners, and still enemies. Human love rarely sacrifices itself even for the righteous, but the Heavenly Father enters human weakness while it is still weak and repulsive.
God does not save us because we improved; He saves us because he loved first. Those who have been loved while helpless must learn to love without calculation. The harvest is still waiting in our own neighborhoods, and the Lord is still sending those who have received his grace. You and I are specially called on that mission.
The Ministry of the Near
This week, focus on the reality that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Identify one village in your daily life, perhaps a specific office, a grocery store, or a family dinner table, and intentionally bring the presence of God there through a gesture of healing or a word of encouragement. Practice being a priest in your daily routine, bridging the gap for someone who feels abandoned by offering them your time and a listening heart.
Pray
Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for the pity of your Son which finds me in my weariness. Help me to walk the dusty roads of my own life with a heart that sends love to the lost and hope to the broken. Amen.
[Readings for Sunday Week 11 A: Exodus 19:2-6a; Romans 5:6-11; Matthew 9:36—10:8]
This reflection is an excerpt from Emelu, M. N. (2026). An Encounter, Vol 5. Paulines Publications West Africa.
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