St. Augustine Zhao Rong, priest 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30

 Israel left with all he owned

And reached Beersheba where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions that he had during the night, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he said. “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I will go with you to Egypt and I will bring you back again and Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”

 Jacob left Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father with their little children and their wives in the wagons that Joseph had sent to fetch him. They also took their flocks and all that they had acquired in Canaan. And so it was that Jacob came to Egypt and with him all his family, his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters, in short all his children he took with him to Egypt.

 Jacob sent Judah ahead to let Joseph know he was coming and that he would soon arrive in the land of Goshen.  Joseph got his chariot ready in order to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself, threw his arms around his father and wept on his shoulder for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, for I have seen your face and know you are alive.”

 

Ps 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40

The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Matthew 10:16-23

Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves.   Be on your guard with respect to people, forthey will hand you over to their courts and they will flog you in their syna­gogues.   You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, and so you may witness to them and the pagans.

 But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say and how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say.   For it is not you who will speak; but it will be the Spirit of your Father in you.

 Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death.   Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For sure, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Jesus speaks of the future His disciples will face once He goes back to the Father. He does not assure the Disciples of an easy life but one full of hardships and trials. The persecution will start from those nearest them. Their closest family will even oppose them. This makes following Jesus a lot harder.

For sometimes, you have to choose between the love of family and faithfulness to the Lord. But in all of this, his disciples will not be decimated by the hatred of the world. Help will come when needed. The last word in the life of disciples is not loneliness, despair or death but salvation. This is what we must ponder in our spiritual life.

The last word of God is always hope, not punishment or condemnation. And so, if someone pretends to be sent by God and coerces us with threats of condemnation and punishment, he or she is out of sync with God's plan. We have to think twice before giving them our trust and confidence.