Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection July 09, 2026
Thursday – 14th Week in Ordinary Time
09th June 2026 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 2
Here are the Catholic Mass readings and a daily reflection for Thursday, July 09, 2026, an ordinary weekday with the memorial of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions. Today Hosea shows us the heart of God torn between justice and love, and in the Gospel Jesus sends the twelve to give freely what they freely received.
Readings of the Day
Catholic Mass Readings
First Reading: Hosea 11:1-4, 8c-9
Thus says the Lord: When Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them. My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
Psalm 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16 (R. 4b)
R/. Let your face shine on us, Lord, and we shall be saved.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Matthew 10:7-15
At that time: Jesus said to his apostles, “Proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the labourer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Thursday – 14th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: Hosea shows God remembering how he taught Israel to walk, holding him up, bending down to feed him. Then his people turn away, and love wins over anger. This is the tenderest picture of God in the Old Testament.
1. Hosea gives us an image of God we rarely dare to imagine. Not a distant judge on a throne. A parent teaching a small child to walk. “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up by their arms.”
2. The picture grows more tender still. God bends down low. He lifts the child to his cheek. He leads with cords of kindness, with bands of love. This is a father on his knees, guiding wobbling first steps, feeding a little one by hand.
3. Then the ache. This child grows up and walks away. The people God carried now turn to idols and forget the hands that held them. Any parent whose grown child has left them behind knows this exact grief. God feels it too.
4. Now the turning point of the whole passage. God is angry, and rightly so. He speaks of judgment. And then something breaks open in him. “How can I give you up? My heart recoils within me. My compassion grows warm and tender.”
5. Hear what God says next, because it is the key. “I will not execute my burning anger, for I am God and not a man.” Read that closely. We would expect the opposite. We would say a man forgives, but God, being holy, must punish. Hosea flips it. It is because he is God, not a man, that his mercy overcomes his wrath. A human heart might stay bitter. God’s love runs deeper than his anger.
6. That is the astonishing claim. Human love has a limit. Push it far enough and it hardens into revenge. God’s love has no such ceiling. His mercy is not weakness in him. It is the very proof of his Godhood. Only God can love like this.
7. Now the Gospel puts that same free love into the disciples’ hands. “You received without paying, give without pay.” They did nothing to earn the mercy they carry. So they must hand it out the same way, freely, to towns that may not even welcome them.
8. The martyrs remembered today lived that free gift to the end. Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who once guarded Christian prisoners, was moved by their peace, and became a priest himself. He and his companions gave their lives rather than deny the God who had first loved them. Love received freely was poured out freely, down to the last drop.
My Practice: Picture God on his knees, teaching you to walk, lifting you to his cheek. That is not poetry. That is how he feels toward you, even now, even after you have wandered. His love is not a man’s love, quick to sour. It is God’s love, which refuses to give you up. So come back if you have drifted. And then carry that same unearned love to someone today. You received it without paying. Give it away for free.
Read tomorrow’s Catholic Mass readings and reflection for July 10, 2026, or revisit yesterday’s reflection for Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time.
Thank You 🙏🙏🙏
Tags: Daily Mass Reflection, Ordinary Time, Book of Hosea, Catholic Mass Readings, Mercy of God, July 2026
