FIRST READING
Exodus 32:7-14
The LORD said to Moses,
“Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ The LORD said to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, “Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’“ So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 106:19-20, 21-22, 23
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image; They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them, who had done great deeds in Egypt, Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham, terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them, but Moses, his chosen one, Withstood him in the breach to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
John 3:16
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
GOSPEL
John 5:31-47
Jesus said to the Jews:
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.
“I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
REFLECTIONS:
Do you know the joy of the gospel and a life fully
submitted to Jesus Christ? Jesus’ opponents refused to accept his divine
authority and claim to be the only begotten Son from the Father. They demanded
evidence for his Messianic claim and equality with God. Jesus answers their
charges with the supporting evidence of witnesses. The law of Moses had
laid down the principle that the unsupported evidence of one person shall
not prevail against a man for any crime or wrong in connection with any
offence he committed (see Deuteronomy 17:6). At least two or three witnesses
were needed. Jesus begins his defense by citing John the Baptist as a witness,
since John publicly pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and had repeatedly
borne witness to him (see John 1:19, 20, 26, 29, 35, 36). Jesus also asserts
that a greater witness to his identity are the signs and miracles he performed.
He cites his works, not to point to himself but to point to the power of
God working in and through him. He cites God the Father as his supreme
witness.
Jesus asserts that the scriptures themselves, including the first five
books of Moses, point to him as the Messiah, the promised Savior. The problem
with the scribes and Pharisees was that they did not believe what Moses
had written. They desired the praise of their fellow humans and since they
were so focused on themselves, they became blindsighted to God. They were
so preoccupied with their own position as authorities and interpreters
of the law that they became hardened and unable to understand the
word of God. Their pride made them deaf to God’s voice. Scripture tells
us that God reveals himself to the lowly, to those who trust not in themselves,
but who trust God and listen to God's word with an eagerness to learn and
to obey. The Lord Jesus reveals to us the mind and heart of God. Through
the gift of the Holy Spirit he opens our ears so that we may hear his voice
and he fills our hearts and minds with the love and knowledge of God.
Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote: “As Christians, our task is to make
daily progress toward God. Our pilgrimage on earth is a school in which
God is the only teacher, and it demands good students, not ones who play
truant. In this school we learn something every day. We learn something
from commandments, something from examples, and something from sacraments.
These things are remedies for our wounds and materials for study.” Are
you an eager student of God’s word and do you listen to it with faith and
trust?
"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may listen to your
word attentively and obey it joyfully."
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