Homily Ideas for This Sunday: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 9:36–10:8
It’s been a while since we’ve posted here, but we’re starting again with a slightly different approach.
In the past, we mostly shared clips and examples of great Catholic homilies—moments where the Gospel was preached with clarity, depth, and real power.
We still believe those examples matter. But now we’re also trying to gather preaching ideas priests can actually use as they prepare their homilies.
The goal is simple: offer practical ideas based on the readings for the upcoming Sunday Mass that might help a priest prepare more fruitfully.
Some of the examples we draw from are not Catholic, and we want to be clear about that. We are not trying to replace Catholic preaching with non-Catholic theology. We are asking a practical question: What can Catholic priests learn from strong preaching examples while remaining fully faithful to the truth of the Catholic faith?
As we work on this format, we would love your help and feedback.
If you are a lay person, would you consider forwarding this to one of your favorite priests? Maybe it will help him prepare for this Sunday’s homily.
If you are a priest, we’d be grateful to know: Is this format useful? Is it easy to skim? What would you like to see more of?
Either way, feel free to sign up for our newsletter to received future homily ideas or contact us directly with feedback.
The Church needs preaching that is clear, faithful, and alive with the Gospel. We hope this small effort can help.
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 9:36—10:8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits
to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,
“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
Preaching Ideas for This Sunday
Below are several ideas a priest might adapt as he prepares this Sunday’s homily.
Compassion & Mercy
Compassion Becomes Mission
The compassion of Jesus does not remain an interior feeling. It moves outward into prayer, healing, sending, and mission.
Gospel Anchor
“At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them” — Matthew 9:36
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;” — Matthew 9:37
How to Preach It
Compassion is not passive sympathy. In Jesus, compassion moves from seeing to action, from sorrow to service, and from awareness to mission.
Mission begins with compassion. The heart of Christ for the lost becomes conviction, and conviction becomes a holy urgency to act for the sake of the harvest.
Biblical compassion is not complete until it acts. Jesus saw need, felt need, and met need; disciples are most Christlike when they do the same.
Quotes & Preaching Examples
“Compassion is more than sympathy.
Cuz you can feel sorry for somebody and go home and eat a sandwich.
You can feel sorry for somebody and say, "Poor thing, I sure hope things get better” and go home and watch American Idol.
But when you're moved, you can't rest until you do something about that situation.”
Rev. Terry K. Anderson
“Here’s the problem: so many of us are so inundated with images of need that we are not even moved anymore. When was the last time you cried over the homeless? When was the last time you wept over the suffering around you? Our souls have become anesthetized. We are numb.
Biblical compassion sees the need and feels the need, but it does not stop there. Compassion is seeing, feeling, and then doing. You have not walked in compassion until you have been used by God to tangibly meet the need.
Jesus sees the crowds, He is moved by them, and He heals them. Jesus sees the crowd, He is moved by their eternal need, and He says to His disciples, ‘Look at the crowds. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. We have to do something.’”
“You have not walked in compassion until you have been used as the utensil of the Divine God to tangibly meet the need.”
Pastor Bryan Loritts
Question / Tension
When was the last time I was moved enough by another person’s spiritual need to act?
Where am I offering commentary when Christ is asking me to offer help?
What kept Jesus moving toward so much need when He could have withdrawn? Compassion.
Application
Ask parishioners to move from noticing need to taking one concrete step: make the call, visit the sick, invite the person back, check on the neighbor, pray with someone, or serve where the parish needs laborers.
Invite parishioners to become the hands of Jesus through concrete care: kind words, compassionate acts, prayer, witness, and presence for someone who feels forgotten.
Invite parishioners to examine whether they have only seen need, or whether they have allowed that need to become prayer, presence, and concrete action.
Compassion Begins in the Heart of Christ
Jesus’ mission does not begin with strategy, irritation, or contempt, but with a heart moved by pity for people who are troubled, abandoned, and in need of a shepherd.
Gospel Anchor
“At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” — Matthew 9:36
How to Preach It
Compassion begins in the heart of Christ. When Jesus sees the troubled and abandoned crowd, He is moved from the depths, not superficially.
Jesus’ compassion is not weakness. It is the inner force of His mission and the reason He moves toward the suffering instead of responding with contempt.
Jesus’ compassion reveals the heart of God. In Christ, divine love draws near to save, heal, restore, and give hope.
Quotes & Preaching Examples
“I heard someone define compassion as ‘your pain in my heart.’
That really captures the meaning. If we read this text and conclude only that Jesus feels sorry for people, we miss the point.
His compassion is deeper than sympathy; He takes their pain into His own heart.”
Pastor Gino Geraci
“A compassionless Christian is an oxymoron.”
Pastor Costi Hinn
“There are three elements to Jesus’ ministry: teaching, preaching, and touching. And there are three elements to His motive. The first is compassion.
Matthew says, ‘He saw the multitudes and was moved with compassion on them.’ You can picture Jesus on an elevated place, perhaps on a hillside, looking down and seeing this mass of people before Him. They came mostly with physical needs: disease, deformity, hunger. But Jesus saw beyond the physical needs to the real needs.
Matthew gives us a glimpse into His heart: He was moved with compassion. The word compassion means ‘to suffer with.’ Jesus suffered with them. He felt their pain.
This is the expression of an attribute of God. He cared because God is love, and love cares. It is the nature of God to care. The first great motive in the heart of Christ to teach, preach, and heal was that God cares about people. It is His nature to care. It is His heart to care.
Again and again in the Gospels, Jesus is moved with compassion. He has compassion on the multitude. He has compassion and forgives the debt. He has compassion and touches the blind. He has compassion and reaches out to the leper.
The Greek word is very vivid. It refers to the inward parts, the deepest place within a person. We might say today that Jesus was moved in His gut. His compassion was not shallow or superficial. He was moved from the depths.”
Pastor John MacArthur
Jesus Sees Persons, Not Problems
Jesus sees beneath wounds, labels, defenses, and outward behavior; He sees troubled and abandoned people who need mercy, not problems to avoid or condemn.
Gospel Anchor
“At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” — Matthew 9:36
“Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” — Matthew 10:6
How to Preach It
Jesus sees people before He sends disciples. Mission begins with spiritual sight: the ability to look past labels, sins, wounds, defenses, and social categories to see a person in need of mercy.
Jesus ministers to persons, not problems. His compassion is not aimed at suffering in the abstract, but at individual people who need His love, warmth, nearness, and restoration.
The lost are valuable, not disposable. To see with the compassion of Jesus is to remember that even the broken, guilty, and wounded are still loved by God and made for redemption.
Quotes & Preaching Examples
“Jesus’ mission was not chiefly to crusade against disease . . . but rather a ministry to individual people, some of whom happened to have a disease. He wanted those people, one by one, to feel His love and warmth and His full identification with them. Jesus knew that He could not readily demonstrate love to a crowd, for love involves touching.”
Dr. Paul Brand
“You have to see people the way Jesus sees them. Jesus does not reduce a person to an addiction, a sin, a condition, a struggle, or a social label. Jesus sees a soul in need of salvation.
And if we saw people the way Jesus sees people, we would have pity on them, and that pity would move us to action. You will never help somebody you do not truly see.
Everybody listening has a deep need to be seen: see me in my struggle, see me in my heartbreak, see me in my loneliness, see me in my distress, see me in my sickness, see me in my hardship, see me sitting right next to you.
The truth is, we often see people without really looking at them. Jesus sees people in their emptiness, because they are sheep without a shepherd.”
Rev. Terry K. Anderson
“Christians should not make lost people feel more worthless; they should help them recover the truth that they are made in the image of God.”
“Jesus sees people in pain, and He feels their pain. When He met the woman at the well, He saw beneath the sin to the emptiness that drove her. When He saw Zacchaeus, He came to seek and save the lost. The lost are not worthless; they are valuable but broken, and they need the only One who can put their lives back together: Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Nate Heitzig
“A divided world does not need more disdain; it needs disciples who see with the compassion of Jesus.”
Pastor Bob Wade
“The world doesn't need another angry Christian, but the world does need passionate Christians.”
Pastor Jason Cruise
Questions for Preaching
When I look at a confused and wounded world, do I see people with anger, fear, and disgust—or with the compassion of Christ?
Who in my city, parish, family, or neighborhood have I labeled as a problem instead of seeing as valuable and broken?
Do I speak truth with the heart of a shepherd, or with the force of someone who has forgotten compassion?
Application
Invite parishioners to look beneath outward behavior and ask what deeper wound, loneliness, confusion, or hunger may be present in the person before them.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to replace contempt, condemnation, anger, or disgust with the compassion of Christ for those who are lost, wounded, and spiritually hungry.
Challenge parishioners to examine whether their Christianity has become correct but cold. The Gospel calls for truth, but truth must be carried with the compassion of Christ.
Mission & Evangelization
Everyone Has a Part in the Mission
Jesus does not leave the harvest as someone else’s problem; He commands prayer for laborers and then sends His disciples to share in His own mission.
Gospel Anchor
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” — Matthew 9:37–38
“Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.” — Matthew 10:1
“Jesus sent out these twelve…” — Matthew 10:5
How to Preach It
Show the movement of the Gospel: Jesus teaches, preaches, heals, sees the crowd with compassion, commands prayer for laborers, and then sends the Twelve. The passage moves from observation to participation.
Emphasize that mission is not optional or reserved for a few specialists. The harvest belongs to the whole Church, and every disciple has some part to play: praying, inviting, serving, welcoming, accompanying, planting, watering, or reaping.
Preach mission as the fruit of salvation. Christ does not only rescue us from darkness; He draws us into His own rescue work so that the King’s mission becomes the Church’s mission.
Quotes & Preaching Examples
“The moment you get rescued, you become a part of the rescue team.”
Pastor Joby Martin
“Christ does not only save us from the water; He hands us a life raft for others.”
Pastor Joby Martin
Questions for Preaching
Am I praying for God to send someone else, when He may be asking me to become one of the laborers?
What role in the harvest is God asking me to accept: planting, watering, inviting, serving, giving, welcoming, or accompanying?
Am I treating mission as a command of Christ or as an optional project for more zealous Christians?
Pastoral Application
The call is not only for pastors. Believers are sent back into ordinary relationships as ambassadors of the Kingdom: friends, neighbors, coworkers, and families who need to hear the good news of Christ.
Encourage parishioners who feel inadequate: they may not preach publicly, but they can pray, invite, serve, give, accompany, prepare, welcome, or have one faithful conversation.
Ask for a clear word from God about your role in the Great Commission tomorrow: at work, school, home, campus, sports field, neighborhood, parish, and to the ends of the earth.
Go Toward the Lost
Jesus does not let His disciples remain spectators; He first goes toward the wounded Himself, then sends His disciples toward the lost, the sick, and the spiritually broken.
Gospel Anchor
“Jesus went around to all the towns and villages...” — Matthew 9:35
“At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity...” — Matthew 9:36
“Jesus sent out these twelve...” — Matthew 10:5
“Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” — Matthew 10:6
How to Preach It
Preach the movement of the Gospel: Jesus sees the crowd, is moved with pity, and goes toward the wounded. Mission begins when disciples learn to see what Christ sees and move where Christ moves.
Emphasize that Jesus does not wait passively for the lost and hurting to come to Him. He goes through towns and villages, public places and hidden places, showing that no human field is beneath His attention.
Challenge the parish to move from safe observation to real proximity. Christians cannot minister to the spiritually broken if they remain only among the already comfortable, convinced, and healed.
Quotes & Preaching Examples
“It's hard to minister to the spiritually broken if you're only willing to walk among the spiritually healed.”
Pastor Jason Cruise
“Jesus didn't wait for the people to come to him. He went to them.”
Pastor Gino Geraci
“Film study is not enough; at some point the disciple has to get on the field.”
Pastor Joby Martin
Application
Invite parishioners to ask where they have become spectators: watching confusion, loneliness, spiritual hunger, family breakdown, or suffering from a distance instead of moving toward it with Christ.
Invite parishioners to ask where Jesus is calling them to go: not only to church, but to homes, schools, workplaces, hospitals, neighborhoods, and places where faith is rarely welcomed.
The Harvest is Nearby
Jesus teaches His disciples to see ordinary life as the mission field: the harvest is not only far away, but already present in homes, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, parishes, and daily relationships.
Gospel Anchor
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few...” — Matthew 9:37
“so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” — Matthew 9:38
How to Preach It
Preach the harvest as nearby, not distant. It is already present in homes, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, parishes, hospitals, and the ordinary places where Christians live each day.
Emphasize ordinary influence. Evangelization often begins through conduct, speech, mercy, availability, invitation, and one faithful relationship within a person’s existing circle of concern.
Show how the Gospel changes the world one life at a time. When one person encounters Christ, that grace reaches families, friendships, neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities.
Quotes & Preaching Examples
“I’m not calling you to cross the sea. I’m just calling you to cross the street.”
Pastor Nate Heitzig
“If the early disciples could trust God to give them words in a court of persecution, can we not trust God to give us words to talk to Tammy in the cubicle next to us?”
Pastor Joby Martin
Questions for Preaching
Who is one person within my reach whom Christ may be asking me to notice, love, and invite?
Where is the harvest already around me, and what labor am I postponing?
What small step of mission is close enough for me to take this week?
Pastoral Application
Invite parishioners to name one person within their ordinary circle of concern: a coworker, neighbor, family member, friend, inactive Catholic, or struggling parishioner who may need encouragement, invitation, or mercy this week.
Ask parishioners to recognize their everyday field: home, work, school, neighborhood, parish, hospital room, or one relationship where the work of the Gospel is already waiting.
Encourage one small missionary step this week: pray by name for one person, send encouragement, invite someone to Mass, begin a conversation, serve someone who cannot repay them, or speak one word of hope.
We’re going to keep experimenting with this format and would love to make it more useful for priests preparing to preach.
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