Read Matthew 9:35 – 10:23 with your family.

Today’s reading is very long and it talks about how to be disciples and teachers of Jesus’ message. The early church had rules about how leaders should behave. There were a lot of other teachers walking around in Galilee and Judea at the time of Jesus, some of them charged money that poor people couldn’t afford, often telling them bad things would happen if they didn’t pay the teachers.

Jesus knew his message was for everyone, not just the rich, and he wanted to make sure his followers were there to heal people and teach people, but not get paid to do it. God’s gifts are free for everyone.

Jesus also knew that if they spoke about God and allowed the Spirit to guide their words, then people would hear the good news and believe that a different way of living was possible: loving each other and sharing everything we have so everyone has enough.