Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (9: 35 – 10: 1, 6- 8) in which Jesus as he sends out the twelve to go to the lost sheep of Israel saying to them ‘You received without charge; give without charge’. Fr Paul says the Gospel today has two parts. Part 1 is a brief summary of the apostolic activity of Jesus and part 2 is the beginning of the sermon of the mission. In part one Jesus goes out to towns and villages and he goes to where the people gather – at the synagogues – and proclaims the good news. We also hear that he cures all kind of sicknesses and diseases. Finally, we hear that he felt sorry for the people. So, in part two Jesus summons the disciples and Jesus fulfils the prophetic promises by sending out the disciples, urgently, to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom and curing the sick, cleansing the lepers and driving out demons. These actions of the disciples are the symbols of the conquest of evil and distress. In story after story Jesus’ heart goes out to the unfortunate and distressed, to the despised and the outcast, and he insists that the judgment of his followers will be in accordance with their adherence to the same standards of caring for the poor, the sick, and the afflicted. The joy of the followers of Jesus rests in the confidence and firmness of a relationship to God the Father and his Messiah. For our reflection today, Fr Paul says, we have received the same mission as the disciples from Jesus, so we might ask ourselves, ‘How do we respond to the lost sheep, the people who are tired, exhausted and searching?’