Even though there was a threat to His life, Jesus still secretly went to Judea to attend the Feast of the Tabernacle.

He has come to obey a vocation, like any prophet,

”I have not come of My own accord but He who sent Me is true, and you do not know Him.

But I know Him, because I have My being from Him and it was He who sent Me”.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Wisdom of Solomon 2:1a, 12-22

Led by mistaken reasons they think,

 God’s love is what sent Jesus to the cross so that we could be reconciled.

This is why God can call us out of darkness, not so that we’d be punished

but so that we could be saved from our sin. 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23

Furthermore, 

"If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true;

there is another who bears witness to me,

and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true."

In today's Gospel, Jesus' words reveal such an intimacy with God

that both the Father and the Son are eager to bear witness to each other.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Exodus 32:7-14

Then Yahweh said to Moses,

" The Church is alive not because we are able to keep it alive. Rather, 

the Church is alive because God is merciful and faithful to us,

accompanying us, healing us, and renewing us. By God's grace,

the Church is not merely surviving but growing and ever-renewing. "

                          Cardinal Jose F.Advincula
                                      Archbishop of Manila Philippines

 St. Frances of Rome, religious

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

1st Reading: Hosea 6:1-6

Come, let us return to Yahweh.

Jesus is eager to share with us his sonship so that his Father will be our Father as well.

He spoke of God as a loving father with whom he related closely, Such was the unity of the Father and Jesus.

His Father's will, seen in sending him for the salvation of the world, was the priority of his life.

Truly, truly, I say you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

1st Reading: Isaiah 49:8-15*

This is what Yahweh says:

God created us for love. He made sure that everything in us and our whole being is oriented in love.

The only way to grow in love is to let ourselves be loved by God, to remember

and reflect on his goodness every day and to allow his love and mercy to move us to love.

If we love God, we love those whom God loves.

St. John of God, religious Day of abstinence from meat

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Hosea 14:2-10

Return to your God,

Water was a symbol of God’s saving grace.

We’ve seen the brokenness continue, we’ve seen sin and exile and longing.

Flowing out from under the Temple,

It is to be understood as a healing, life-giving water.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12*

The man brought me

They attributed it to Beelzebul, the prince of demons. This makes Jesus the agent of the devil.

Jesus showed that He has power over evil spirits.

Jesus did a good work, curing a man who was mute. Yet some of those around him did not recognise his goodness.

Jesus, the Son of God, who willingly gave his life that we might have life. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”

Sts. Perpetua & Felicity, martyrs

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Jeremiah 7:23-28

One thing I did command them:

 We pray constantly, ‘Lord, I believe, strengthen my belief’

He went back with nothing but the assurance of Jesus that his son lives. That is why,

when Jesus’ words are confirmed, he became a believer together with his family.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Isaiah 65:17-21

I now create new heavens

 The Law and the Prophets are the two central pillars of faith in the Hebrew Bible.

Jesus came not to displace either of them and thereby completing them.

Jesus does not abolish the Law but comes to give it a deeper meaning and insight.

At a time when the Teachers of the Law and the Scribes

and Pharisees are preoccupied with its letter, He points to the spirit of the Law.

O Lord, “Make me to know your ways; teach me your paths.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

And now, Israel,