＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

2 Timothy 4:1-8

In the presence of God

Pharisees and Herodians, conspired together to trap Jesus,

They said: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” .Should We Pay Taxes?

Should we pay our taxes?

If Jesus affirms Roman taxation, he will offend his followers.

If he rejects it, he will face charges of treason.

1st Reading: 2 Peter 3:12-15a, 17-18

As you wait for the day of God,

 The Immaculate Heart of Mary signifies, The great purity and love of the heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary for God.

This purity is manifested in her “Yes” to the Father at the Incarnation.

Mary’s interior life and the beauties of her soul,

The attraction is the love of her Immaculate Heart for Jesus and for God, for humanity.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

2 Timothy 4:1-8

In the presence of God and Christ Jesus,

The vineyard is God’s people Israel.

The owner is God. The tenants are Israel’s leaders.

The servants are the prophets. And the owner’s “beloved son” is Jesus.

The Romans captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.

The present evil age that God will destroy and replace with

a new world in which all things manifest God’s purposes . 

 St. Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

2 Peter 1:2-7

May grace and peace abound in you,

This Heart calls to our heart. By handing ourselves over to him and with him,

to discover the fullness of love which alone is eternity and which alone sustains the world.”

Lord, like John the Beloved Disciple, rest my weary head on your heart,

so that I may know how real, how true, how fleshand-blood your love is for me.

‘They shall look on him whom they pierced.’ were the price of our salvation.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9

I loved Israel

 The tremendous blessing we have been given and continuously receive in the Body and Blood of Christ.

It is what feeds us, it is what unites us, and it is what will sustain us unto eternal life.

As he says in the Gospel. It sustains and nourishes us, just as it sustains, nourishes and brings the Church together.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Exodus 24:3-8

Moses came and told

We too ask the same question as the scribe,

‘Which of the commandments is the first of all?’

The Ten Commandments, They provide a way of life,

loving God was first and loving others followed from it.

When we are committed to love, we are not far from the kingdom of God.
 

 St. Norbert, bishop

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remember Christ Jesus,

 Jesus was challenging the authority of the religious leadership, and they felt threatened,

so they decided to confront him. By what authority are you doing these things?

Jesus so confident of His own power and authority. It is because it emanates from Himself.

It is a power that is Personal and not derived.

St. Justin, martyr

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Jude 17, 20b-25

But, most beloved,

The Saducees to try trapping Jesus with an awkward question.

Whatever we may think of death, we still believe in the ‘God of the living’.

That – as he says in the Gospel – he is the “God of the living and not of the dead”.

The resurrection of the dead is nothing like anything we can imagine.

He loves us that God will never let go of us.

 St. Boniface, bishop & martyr

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12

From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus,

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Zephaniah 3:14-18a (or Romans 12:9-16)

Cry out with joy,