- 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.
- No one has ever seen God,
but if we love one another,
God abides in us,
and his love is made complete in us. - 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.
- This is how we know what love is:
he laid down his life for us,
and we in turn must be prepared
to lay down our lives for our brethren. - Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory
because of your kindness and faithfulness. - The father of a good man will rejoice;
he who begets a wise son will delight in him. - Our temporary light afflictions are preparing for us an incomparable weight of eternal glory.
- Cure the sick who are there, and say, ‘The kingdom of God has come unto you.’
- For the Lord, your God, is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.
- He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for all of us. How then can he fail also to give us everything else along with him?
- Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son.
- God saved us and called us to a life of holiness, not because of our works but according to his own purpose and the grace that has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.
- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
- My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad. - This is how we can be certain
that we abide in him
and that he abides in us:
he has given us a share in his Spirit. - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that weighs us down and the sins that so easily distract us and with perseverance run the race that lies ahead of us.
- For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer.
However, the face of the Lord
is set against those who do evil. - Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
Being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself,
and became obedient to death,
even death on a cross. - Yet even so, because of your great compassion,
you did not completely destroy them,
nor did you forsake them,
for you are a gracious and merciful God. - All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had announced through the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
a name that means “God is with us.” - His divine power has bestowed on us everything that is necessary for life and for devotion through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue.
- Just as you do not know the path of the wind
or how the body is formed in a woman’s womb,
so you do not know the work of God,
the Creator of all. - What then can we say in response to all this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- For your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies. - Jesus answered, “If it is possible! All things are possible for one who has faith.”
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