John 5:31-47

31 If I bore witness to myself, my testimony would be worthless.

32 But Another One is bearing witness to me, and I know that his testimony is true when he bears witness to me.

33 John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to him,

34 but I do not seek such human testimony;I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.

35 John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light.

36 But I have greater evidence than that of John—the works which the Father entrusted to me to carry out. The very works I do bear witness: the Father has sent me.

37 Thus he who bears witness to me is the Father who sent me. You have never heard his voice and have never seen his likeness;

38 therefore, as long as you do not believe his messenger, his word is not in you.

39 You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to me.

40 But you refuse to come to me, that you may live.

41 I am not seeking human praise;

42 but I know that the love of God is not within you,

43 for I have come in my Father’s name and you do not accept me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

44 As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe?

45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you.

46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me.

47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?

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Hosea 6: 1-6

Come, let us return to Yahweh.

Luke 1;26-38

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God, to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent

27 to a virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”

29 Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.

30 But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you.

31 You shall conceive and bear a son; and you shall call him Jesus.

32 He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever;

33 and his reign shall have no end.”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born of you shall be called Son of God.

36 Even your relative, Elizabeth, is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month.

37 With God nothing is impossible.”

38 Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.

Day of abstinence from meat (age 14 and up)

＊＊＊1st Reading＊＊＊

 Hosea 14: 2-10

 Return to your God Yahweh,

John 5:1-16

1 After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now, by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, there is a pool (called Bethzatha in Hebrew) surrounded by five galleries.

3 In these galleries lay a multitude of sick people: blind, lame and paralyzed.

(4 All were waiting for the water to move, for at times an angel of the Lord would descend into the pool and stir up the water; and the first person to enter the pool, after this movement of the water, would be healed of whatever disease that he had.)

5 There was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years.

6 Jesus saw him, and because he knew how long this man had been lying there, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

7 And the sick man answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; so while I am still on my way, another steps down before me.”

8 Jesus then said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk!”

9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his mat and walked. Now that day happened to be the Sabbath.

10 So the Jews said to the man who had just been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and the law doesn’t allow you to carry your mat.”

11 He answered them, “The one who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk!’”

12 They asked him, “Who is the one who said to you: Take up your mat and walk?”

13 But the sick man had no idea who it was who had cured him, for Jesus had slipped away among the crowd that filled the place.

14 Afterward Jesus met him in the temple court and told him, “Now you are well; don’t sin again, lest something worse happen to you.”

15 And the man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

16 So the Jews persecuted Jesus because he performed healings like that on the Sabbath.

＊＊＊1st Reading＊＊＊

２Samuel 7: 4-5a, 12-14a, 16

But that very night, Yahweh’s word came to Nathan,

St. Toribio de Mogrovejo, bishop 

＊＊＊1st Reading＊＊＊

Isaiah 65: 17-21

 I now create new heavens and a new earth,

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop  & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Deuteronomy 4: 1, 5-9

 And now, Israel, listen

＊＊＊1st Reading＊＊＊

1 Samuel 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a

Yahweh asked Samuel,

St. Patrick. bishop 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Daniel 3: 25, 34-43*

Azariah stood up in the midst of the fire and prayed aloud: