The Lectionary draws our attention to God’s deep compassion and the urgent call to mission. Moving through Ordinary Time, the readings bridge God's historic covenant with Israel in Exodus—bearing them up on eagles' wings to be a treasured possession—with Paul’s powerful reminder in Romans that Christ proved God's radical love by dying for us while we were still weak. This theological foundation comes alive in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus looks upon the harassed and helpless crowds with profound empathy. Declaring that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, He commissions His disciples to go out and heal, giving us our driving theme for the week: "Freely you received, freely give." It is an invitation to step out of the pews and into a hurting world, carrying the very grace and presence we have so abundantly received.