11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) 2026

German-speaking Catholic Parish in Japan

1st Reading:      Ex 19:2–6a

2nd Reading:      Rom 5:6–11

Gospel:             Mt 9:36 – 10:8

There are phrases in the Gospel that are so simple that it is easy to overlook them. One of them is the focus today: “You have received without payment – give without payment.” Jesus does not say this at the end of a long period of training, nor after a phase of intensive preparation, but precisely at the moment when he sends out the disciples for the first time. They have hardly any experience. They do not know what lies ahead. They are not prepared. But they have received something. And this receiving is the starting point.

If one takes this sentence seriously, it changes one’s perspective on many things. For we live in a world where almost everything expects something in return. You give something, and you get something back. You invest, and you expect a result. You help, and you hope for recognition.

Jesus puts forward a different logic. He says: You have received without doing anything in return. You have experienced closeness without deserving it. You have experienced forgiveness without having to earn it. You have been given trust without having to prove yourselves first. And that is exactly how you should act.

This idea runs through all the biblical texts. In the Book of Exodus, Israel is chosen – not because it is special, but because God loves it. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul writes that Christ died for us before we even understood what that meant. And today’s Gospel makes it clear: the disciples are sent out before they have anything to show for themselves.

It all begins with a gift.

When we apply this to our own lives, it becomes very real. Many of us have had experiences we did not deserve: people who trusted us. People who supported us. People who gave us a second chance. These are moments one does not ‘earn’. They are a gift.

And it is precisely from such experiences that Christian action arises. Not out of a sense of duty. Not out of moral pressure. Not out of a desire to get something in return. But out of gratitude.

This idea also applies to the Church itself. Sometimes one gets the impression that those in positions of responsibility within the Church – priests, bishops, leaders – must act from a position of strength. As if they had something that others do not. As if they were ‘owners’ of the faith or of grace.

But that is not the picture presented by the Gospel. They, too, have received – freely. They too live from a gift, not from a claim. They too are people who are carried, not people who achieve everything through their own strength.

A Church that forgets this loses its credibility. A Church that takes it seriously gains freedom: freedom to serve. Freedom to listen. Freedom to admit mistakes. Freedom to be generous.

“You have received freely – freely you must give.” This is not a moral demand. It is a reminder: we live by a gift. And we may pass this gift on without controlling it, without managing it, without calculating it.

Today we are invited to become aware of where we have been blessed. And then an attitude may arise within us that does others good.