Reflect prayerfully on the Scripture reading as you listen.

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 the Cananean, 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.’ “ 

Matthew 10:1-7

Pray together the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father... 

The Church constantly holds “that the four Gospels, whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly asserts, faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation.” 

Dei Verbum 19

(Note: Dei Verbum, a document from Vatican II, is the official Magisterial teaching on Divine Revelation and Scripture.) 

in order to better understand the Gospels, it is important for us as readers to understand the intended audience each Gospel writer was writing for, the arrangement or structure of the Gospel, and any important themes present in the Gospel. We will examine these things for each of the four Gospels.