First reading Wisdom 2:1,12-22
Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man and condemn him to a shameful death
The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:
‘Our life is short and dreary,
nor is there any relief when man’s end comes,
nor is anyone known who can give release from Hades.
Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us
and opposes our way of life,
reproaches us for our breaches of the law
and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.
He claims to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a son of the Lord.
Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,
the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
his way of life is not like other men’s,
the paths he treads are unfamiliar.
In his opinion we are counterfeit;
he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth;
he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy
and boasts of having God for his father.
Let us see if what he says is true,
let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.
If the virtuous man is God’s son, God will take his part
and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.
Let us test him with cruelty and with torture,
and thus explore this gentleness of his
and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death
since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.’
This is the way they reason, but they are misled,
their malice makes them blind.
They do not know the hidden things of God,
they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded,
they can see no reward for blameless souls.
Responsorial Psalm 33(34):16,18,19-21,23
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The just call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many are the trials of the just man
but from them all the Lord will rescue him.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
He will keep guard over all his bones,
not one of his bones shall be broken.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
Gospel Acclamation Joel2:12-13
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Or: Mt4:4
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Gospel John 7:1-2,10,25-30
They would have arrested him, but his time had not yet come
Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.
As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.’
Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:
‘Yes, you know me
and you know where I came from.
Yet I have not come of myself:
no, there is one who sent me
and I really come from him,
and you do not know him,
but I know him because I have come from him
and it was he who sent me.’
They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.
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Nothing could stop Jesus
In today’s gospel, the Jewish religious leaders wanted to get rid of Jesus because they were against His teaching and activities that were not in line with the religious system of rites and sacrifices. They disapproved of Jesus’ teaching about God’s forgiving and merciful love towards all. They were scandalous by Jesus’ kindness towards those they deemed to be sinners. Jesus, knowing that His life was in danger, neither softened His message nor changed the way He lived His life.
“…I know him because I have my being from him and it was he who sent me”. Jesus was clear that He had come from God and that God was the one who sent him. This certainty gave Him the trust to carry on loving the sinners and the excluded, no matter if others were offended by His words and actions. Today, we are invited to imitate Jesus by staying faithful to our God-given mission, even when it is hard to live out our Christian faith in the places where we are.
Question for reflection:
How would I respond when people reject and criticise me for my Catholic faith and for trying to live the gospel values?
How would I respond when people reject and criticise me for my Catholic faith and for trying to live the gospel values?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
