But he was pierced for our offenses and crushed for our iniquity; the punishment that made us whole fell upon him, and by his bruises we have been healed.
The birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
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.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and barren, and darkness covered the abyss while the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.
He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze.
By faith Abraham also received the power of procreation, even though he was well past the age—and Sarah herself was barren—because he believed that the one who had made the promise would be faithful in fulfilling it.
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up to heaven.
I was eager to respond to those who did not consult me. I was anxious to be approached by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am! Here I am!” to a nation that did not summon me.
Joseph therefore went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. He went to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was expecting a child.
For I handed on to you as of primary importance what I received: that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised to life on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that by perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we may continue to have hope.
Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was made visible in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.
After John had baptized all the people, and while Jesus was engaged in prayer after also having been baptized, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her in order to sanctify her by cleansing her with water and the word.