Matthew 10: 24-33

Jesus said to his Apostles: 
“No disciple is above his teacher,
no slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more those of his household!

“Therefore do not be afraid of them.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Endurance Overcomes Persecution

Gospel, Matthew 10:16-23

Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as snakes and yet innocent as doves.Be prepared for people to hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles.But when you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes,because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. 'Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against their parents and have them put to death. You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. In truth I tell you, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes.

Peace in Everyone

Gospel: Matthew 10: 7-15

Jesus said to his Apostles:
“As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;
no sack for the journey, or a second tunic,
or sandals, or walking stick.
The laborer deserves his keep.
Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,
and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town.”

Matthew 10: 1-7

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.’”

Am I Ready?

Revelation 16:15 Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.

This calls for spiritual preparedness. Christ will come in such a way when no one expected it. 

Most people will ask themselves, "Am I ready when Christ comes?"

So,how do we get ourselves prepared?

Carrying out the will of God is the preparation we need to do which can be made through the dedication to the purposes for which we have been placed on earth. 

How are we going to know the will of God for us? 

Jesus Heals

Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26

As he was speaking these things to them, behold, a certain ruler approached and adored him, saying: “Lord, my daughter has recently passed away. But come and impose your hand upon her, and she will live.” And Jesus, rising up, followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman, who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years, approached from behind and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself, “If I will touch even his garment, I shall be saved.” But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said: “Be strengthened in faith, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. And when Jesus had arrived in the house of the ruler, and he had seen the musicians and the tumultuous crowd, he said, “Depart. For the girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they derided him. And when the crowd had been sent away, he entered. And he took her by the hand. And the girl rose up. And the news of this went out to that entire land.

Happy Laborers

Gospel: LK 10:1-9

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit. 
He said to them,

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest. 
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way. 
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you. 
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment. 
Do not move about from one house to another. 
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,

‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

Matthew 9: 14-17

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Matthew 9: 9-13

As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

What Matters Most?

I have a confession to make. I find it hard creating an article. To make it more specific, creating an English article. I'm having difficulty constructing sentences with the correct subject-verb agreement. Until now, I still get lost and confused in dealing with tenses - past, present, and future. I find it hard also to finish an article that possesses coherence.  And actually, right now, in this article, I doubt you'll finish reading without spotting errors at least one.

I have another confession. It takes me 3-7 hours to compose an article. That's true. The thought and idea of each article is actually formulated for a maximum of 1 hour. The remaining hours are for backspacing, rewriting, analyzing, choosing the right words, deleting excess "s" (for verb, you know what I mean) and all of the editing stuffs while I am still in my composing phase yet. That's why it's a big WOW for me whenever I heard someone that he can compose an article in an hour - fully edited, fully polished, ready for publication.

Yet, here I am, trying hard and giving my best to just create an article. And you might wonder why? It's pretty obvious that I am not good in English, BUT WHY IN THE WORLD I STILL CHOSE TO COMPOSE AND CREATE ARTICLES FOR GOD? Am I that ambitious trying to dream hopelessly that someday I will be someone who can write and author a novel, or whose name is in the newspapers, magazines, and in other publications?

My answer is just a partial "yes". Because my main reason is more than the reasons I have just mentioned. And what is it?

I'll answer that in a moment. But first, let me share to you a bible story..