And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scholars arguing with them. 

And immediately all the crowd, having seen him, were greatly surprised –
and hurrying over greeted him. 

And he asked them ‘What are you arguing about with them?’

And someone from the crowd answered him :
‘ Teacher, I have brought my son to you; he has a spirit that makes him mute.
And wherever it seizes  him
it dashes him to the ground,
and he foams at the mouth
and grinds his teeth
and he becomes stiff.
And I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not powerful. ‘

So he replied: 
‘O faithless generation!
How much longer will I be with you?
How much longer will I put up with you?
Bring him to me. 

And they brought him to him. 
And when the spirit saw him
it immediately threw him into convulsions,
and falling on the ground,
he rolled around,
foaming at the mouth. 

And he asked the father ‘How long since has this been happening to him?

And he said
‘From childhood.
It has often thrown him into the fire
and into the waters
to destroy him.
But if you can, help us,
have pity on us.’

Then Jesus said to him
‘“If you can?!”
– all things are possible, to those who believe.’ 

Immediately the father of the child cried out :
‘I believe, help my unbelief.’

Jesus seeing that the crowd was gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it
‘Mute and deaf spirit, I order you,
leave him
and never enter him.’

And crying out,
it left,
throwing him into many convulsions.
And he was like dead,
so that many said that he had died.

But Jesus taking him by his hand, raised him up and he stood up. 

And when he had entered his house, his disciples asked him privately
‘Why could we not cast it out?’
And he said to them
‘This kind can never be cast out except by prayer.’

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

And as they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them to tell nobody what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from those who have died. And they seized the statement, discussing among themselves  what rising from those who have died is. 

And they asked him: ‘Why do the scholars say that Elijah must come first?

He said to them 

’Yes, but… Elijah, having come first, will restore all things. 

And why is it written about the Son of Man
that he should suffer many things and be rejected? But I say to you that Elijah has not only come
but also they did to him whatever they wanted – as it is written about him.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

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And after six days, Jesus took along Peter, and Jacob and John and he took them into the high mountain, alone, and he was changed before them.

And his clothes became shining, very white, more than any launderer on earth could whiten.

And when Elijah and Moses appeared to them, they talked with Jesus,

And Peter spoke up, saying to Jesus: ‘Rabbi, it is good that we are here, and let’s make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

For he did not know what to say, for they had become afraid.

Then a cloud came, overshadowing them, and then a voice came from the cloud. ‘This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him.’

And suddenly looking around, they saw no-one with them but only Jesus.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

And he began to teach them it is was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the Chief Priests and the scholars and to be killed and to rise after three days. 

And he spoke the word plainly. 

And after taking him aside, Peter began to rebuke him. 

But when Jesus turned around and saw his disciples, he rebuked Peter: ‘Go behind me, Satan . Because you do not think the things of God but human things.’

And having called to him the crowd, with the disciples he said to them:

If someone wishes to follow after me
they must deny themselves
and take up their cross,
and keep on  following  me. 

Whoever wishes to save their life will lose it. 
But whoever loses their life – for my sake, and the gospel – will save it.

For what does it profit someone if they gain the whole world, but they lose their life?
For what can a person give in exchange for their life?

For whoever has been ashamed of me and my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation,
the Son of Man  will will be ashamed of them,
when he comes in the glory of his father,
with the holy angels. 

And he said to them:
‘Truly I tell you all, 
there are some standing here
who will not experience death
before they see the kingdom of God has come in power. ‘

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen

Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)

And Jesus and his disciples went out into the region of Caesarea Philippi
and on the road he asked them ‘Who do people say I am?

And they said
‘They say John the Baptist,
and others Elijah,
others you are one of the prophets. ‘

And he asked them ‘You all – who do you say I am?’ 

Peter answered him ‘You  – you are the Anointed One.’

And he firmly ordered them to speak about him to no-one. 

Take from us,
O God, all pride and vanity,
all boasting and self-assertion,
and give us the true courage that shows itself in gentleness,
the true wisdom that shows itself in simplicity,
and the true power that shows itself in modesty.

Charles Kingsley

And  they came into Bethsaida, and they brought to him a blind man, and they asked him to touch him. And having laid his hands on the blind man he took out of the village, and having spat onto his eyes  and placed his hands on him, he asked him ‘What do you see?’

And regaining his sight,  he said ‘I see … people walking …like trees.’

Then again he placed his hands upon his eyes, and he opened his eyes and he was healed and he saw everything clearly. 

And he sent him to his house, saying ‘Do not go into the village.’

O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee,
the life of the souls that love thee,
and the strength of the wills that serve thee;
help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee;
so to love thee that we may fully serve thee,
whom to serve is perfect freedom.
Amen

And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him – seeking a sign from heaven from him, testing him.

And sighing deeply in his spirit, he said: ‘Why does this generation seek a sign:?Truly I say to you all, if a sign will be given to this generation, then what?

And having left them again, and having got into the boat, he went to the other side. 

And having forgotten to take any breads- except for one -, they did not have any  with them in the boat. 

And he was warning them: ‘Look out! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees, and the yeast of Herod. ‘

And they were discussing with one another about the bread which they did not have.

And knowing this, Jesus said to them
‘Why are you discussing the bread which you do no have?
Do you not yet know nor understand?’
Have your hearts been hardened?
Do you have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear?
And do you not remember?
When I broke the five breads for the five thousand,
how many basketfulls of leftovers did you pick up? 

They said to him ‘twelve’

‘When I broke the seven breads for the four thousand,
how many basketfulls of leftovers did you pick up?

They said to him ‘seven’

And he said ‘Do you not yet understand?’

God be in head and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes and in my looking;
God be in my mouth and in my speaking;
God be in my heart and in my thinking;
God be at my end and at my departing.

In those days there was a large crowd again, when they did not have anything to eat, he called together his disciples and said to them: ‘I have pity upon the crowd, because  they have stayed with me three days already, and they do not have anything to eat. And if I send them hungry to their homes, they will faint on the road, and some of them have come from far away.’

And his disciples answered him: ‘How can someone feed these people with bread in a deserted place?’

And he asked them: ‘How many breads do you have?’

And they said ‘Seven’ 

And he commanded the crowd to sit  on the ground. And taking the seven breads, giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to serve out again and again, and they served the crowd.

And they had a few small fish. And after he blessed these he told them to serve these too.  And they ate and they were satisfied and they picked up seven baskets of left-over fragments. 

And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 

And immediately when he had got into the boat with his disciples, he went into the region of Dalmanutha. 

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.
Alcuin

And when he had gone out of the region of Tyre, he went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of the region of the Decapolis, again. 

And they brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking, and they begged him that he might lay hands on him. 

And when he had taken him privately away from the crowd, he put his fingers in his ears, and after having spat, touched his tongue.

And when he had looked up into heaven, he groaned and said to him: ‘Ephaphtha’ (that is ‘Be opened.’)

And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. 

And he ordered them not to say anything. But as much as he ordered them, so much more they proclaimed. And they were completely amazed saying ‘ He has done everything well, and he made the deaf hear, and the mute able to talk. ‘

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.

Amen.

From there, having set out, he went away into the region of Tyre, and having entered a house, he did not want anyone to know, and yet he was not able to be hidden. 

But immediately a woman, (who had a little daughter with an unclean spirit) having heard about him, came and fell at his feet. 

The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by race. 

And she asked him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 

And he said to her: ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’

But she answered: ‘Lord, even the little dogs under the table eat the children’s little crumbs.’

And he said to her: ‘Because of this word go – the demon has left your little daughter.’

And when she went into her house, she found the little child lying on the bed and the demon gone. 

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.