Become (with others) my imitators, brothers/ sisters and pay attention to those who walk as you have an example in us.
For many walk – those who I have warned you about, and now I warn (you), even weeping, – who are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the gut and (their) glory is in their shame, they think fixedly about earthly things.
For our citizenship is in the heavens, from which indeed we also eagerly-await as Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change the body of our lowliness into the likeness of the body of his glory in keeping with the working of his power and he will subject all things to himself.
So then, my beloved and longed for brothers /sisters my joy and crown, stand like this, in the Lord, beloved.
O Lord, in whom is our hope, remove far from us, we pray thee, empty hopes and presumptuous confidence. Make our hearts so right with thy most holy and loving heart, that hoping in thee we may do good; until that day when faith and hope shall be abolished by sight and possession, and love shall be all in all.
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years, but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth, in a serious seeking after thee, and in an affectionate walking with thee, every day of our lives; that when thou comest, we may be found not hiding our talent, nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished, but waiting and longing for our Lord, our glorious King, for ever and ever.
Then, Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, departed from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He was tested by the Devil for forty days. And he ate nothing in those days, and when they ended he was hungry.
The Devil said to him: ‘If you are the Son of God, speak to this stone so that it becomes a bread.’ And Jesus said to him: ‘It is written: Not only by bread shall a human live’ (Dt 8:3)
And when he had led him up he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the Devil said to him: I will give to you this all this domain and their glory, because it has been given to me and I give it to whoever I choose. So then if you bow down before me, all this will be yours. And Jesus replied: It is written: The Lord, your God, you will bow down to and serve only him. (Dt 6:13)
Then he took him to Jerusalem and put him upon the highest point of the Temple, and said to him: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written: He will give orders to his angels angels about you to protect you. And They will lift you up, with their hands so that you do not strike a stone with you foot. (Ps91 11-12) And Jesus answered him: It has been said: Do not test the Lord, your God. (Dt 6 16)
And when the Devil had ended every temptation he left him until another opportunity
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…
Lord God, you feed us with the living bread from heaven; you renew our faith, increase our hope, and strengthen our love.
Teach us to hunger for Christ who is the true and living bread, and to live by every word that comes from your mouth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
But what does it (the Torah) say?: The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (Dt 30:14) – this is the word of faith, which we preach. Because if you confess with your mouth (that) Jesus is the Lord and that God raised him from the dead people, you will be saved. For Scripture says: Everyone who believes in him, will not be be put to shame. (Isa 28:16) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. for the same is Lord of all, who is generous to all who call upon him. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. (Joel 2:32)
Eternal Light, shine into our hearts; Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil; Eternal Power, be our support; Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance: That we may seek your face with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. Amen.
“When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labou r on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Then, in the early morning, he came again to the Temple and all the people came to him, and having sat down he taught them.
Then the scribes and Pharisees led (to him) a woman, having been caught in adultery and put her in the middle.
They said to him: ‘Teacher, this woman, was caught in the very act of committing adultery. In the Torah, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’
(They said this to test him, so that they could accuse him).
But Jesus when he had bent down, he wrote with his finger in the dirt.
As they persisted in questioning him, he stood up straight, and said to them: ‘Let the sinless one among you, throw a stone first, at her.
And again he when had bent down, he wrote in the dirt.
Now those who heard this went out one after another, beginning with the oldest and he was left alone, and she was in the middle.
Then Jesus stood up straight and said to her ‘Lady, where are they? Did no one condemn you?’
Then she said ‘No one, Lord’.
Jesus said, ‘I do not condemn you either. Go and from now on sin no longer.’
Eternal Light, shine into our hearts, Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil, Eternal Power, be our support, Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance, Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us; that with all our heart and mind and soul and strength we may seek thy face and be brought by thine infinite mercy to thy holy presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Love never falls. But if there are prophecies they will be brought to an end if there are tongues, they will stop if there is knowledge it will be brought to an end For we know ‘part by part’ and we prophesy ‘part by part’ When the whole comes the partial will be brought to an end. When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, I used to form opinions as a child I used to think as a child When I became an adult we did away with things of a child.
Just now we see in a mirror a reflected image but then face to face. Just now I know in part by part Then I shall come to fully know as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope love – these three things remain. And the greatest of these is love.
Lord, you have given me so much, I ask for one more thing – a grateful heart.
Love waits patiently shows kindness Love does not burn with envy does not brag does puff itself up does not act in rude ways does not self-serve does not become exasperated does not keep a count of evil l does not rejoiced at wrong doing but (love) rejoices at the truth supports all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things
Be thou a bright flame before me, Be thou a guiding star above me Be thou a smooth path below me Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me Today – tonight -forever Amen.
If with the tongues of humans I were to speak or even angels but love I do not have I have become a resounding brass (jar?) or a clanging cymbal and if I were to have (the gift) of prophecy and even to understand all the mysteries and every knowledge and if I have all faith so as to move mountains but love I do not have I am nothing
and even if I have given away all my possessions and if I given my body over to be burned but love I do not have I gain nothing.
O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me. O Love, who redeemed me, fill up in me whatever part of your love has fallen into neglect within me. O Love, O God, who first loved me, grant that with my whole heart, and with my whole soul, and with my whole strength, I may love you.
Now, you all are the body of Christ and limbs /organs each for their part.
And some God placed in the church first apostles second prophets third teachers then miracles, then gifts of healing helping guiding kinds of tongues
Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all work miracles, do they? Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak with tongues, do they? Not all interpret do they?
Nonetheless strive for the greater g ifts.
And yet I will show you a more excellent way.
Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen