Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by the devil. During that time he ate nothing, and at the end of it he was famished.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.
But to those of you who are listening to me, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. The measure that you use for others will be used to measure you.
A good man produces good from the store of goodness in his heart, whereas an evil man produces evil from the store of evil within him. For the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart.
No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a pot or places it under a bed. Rather he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute among the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Then they gathered up what was left over—twelve baskets of fragments.
And said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”
He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
If you, then, despite your evil nature, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. Even the hairs on your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth far more than any number of sparrows.
See what love the Father has bestowed on us, enabling us to be called the children of God, and that is what we are. If the world does not recognize us, that is because it did not know him.