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John, a Child Set Apart for the Lord (Luke 1:57-66, 80)

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” 61 But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 62 So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. 63 He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. 65 Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. 80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and...
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Do Good to Others and Choose the Way That Leads to Life (Matthew 7:6, 12-14)

Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces. 12 “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. 14 How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few. Jesus gives three closely related teachings about wisdom, charity, and the way that leads to life. He teaches his disciples to treat holy things with reverence, to do good to others, and to enter by the narrow gate. The first saying uses strong images. In Jesus’ time, dogs and swine were considered unclean animals and could be used as insulting terms. Jesus speaks of “ what is holy ” and “ pearls ,” images of something precious. The point is that sacred things must be treated with reverence and shared with discernment. The Go...
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Judge Not: Remove the Beam from Your Own Eye First (Matthew 7:1-5)

S top judging, that you may not be judged. 2 For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. 3 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? 5 You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye. After the Sunday Gospel, we return to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus continues teaching his disciples how to live as children of the Father. Jesus warns his disciples against judging others with arrogance. His words are direct: “ Stop judging, that you may not be judged ” (v. 1). Jesus teaches that God sees the spirit in which we judge and measure others. A harsh and condemning spirit places us under the same measure we have used toward another person (v. 2). Jesus’ teachin...
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Do Not Be Afraid to Acknowledge Christ (Matthew 10:26-33)

Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.  27 What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. 30 Even all the hairs of your head are counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 32 Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. 33 But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father. In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus sends the Twelve on mission. He prepares them to preach, heal, and bear witness to the kingdom of heaven. He also tells them that the mission will bring opposition. They will not alw...
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Trust and Serve the Father Without Worry (Matthew 6:24-34)

No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? 28 Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. 29 But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. 30 If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to d...
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Be Filled with Light and Store Up Treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-23)

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be. Jesus teaches his disciples to look carefully at what they treasure. Earthly treasures can be useful, but they cannot provide lasting security. Clothing can be eaten by moths, stored goods can decay, and possessions can be stolen. Jesus is not speaking only about ancient wealth. He is speaking about anything we treat as our final source of safety, happiness, or identity. Everything earthly is temporary, and anything temporary can be lost. Jesus gives the same warning in the par...
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Jesus Teaches Us How to Pray (Matthew 6:7-15)

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread; 12 and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; 13 and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. Jesus teaches his disciples to pray with simplicity, trust, and sincerity. He first warns them not to “ babble like the pagans ” (v. 7). This does not forbid repeated prayer or long prayer when it comes from faith and love. Jesus himself prayed at length, and the Church continues to pray with repeated words in the Psalms, litanies,...
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Serve God Without Seeking Attention (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)

Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 5 “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.  16 “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting....
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Love Your Enemies and Pray for Those Who Persecute You (Matthew 5:43-48)

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus brings the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount to one of its most demanding points. The command to love one’s neighbor was already given in the Law: “ Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself ” (Leviticus 19:18). In the time of Jesus, some understood “ neighbor ” mainly as a fellow Israelite or as someone within one’s own community. Jesus expa...
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Jesus Teaches Mercy Instead of Revenge (Matthew 5:38-42)

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. 40 If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. 41 Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount by teaching His disciples how to respond when they are wronged. He begins with the familiar words, “ An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ” (v. 38). This teaching came from the Law of Moses and appears in Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. Its purpose was to limit revenge. Punishment was not to grow beyond the injury that had been done. In its original setting, this rule restrained violence and prevented personal revenge from becoming a wider spiral of...
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Jesus Has Compassion on the Crowds and Sends the Twelve to the Lost Sheep of Israel (Matthew 9:36—10:8)

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; 38 so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” 1 Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; 4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. 5 Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at han...
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Jesus Teaches Fidelity in Marriage and Honesty in Speech (Matthew 5:31-37)

It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one. Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount by teaching His disciples that righteousness must reach the whole person. In the verses just before this passage, He taught that adultery begins in the heart when a person looks with lust (vv. 27-30). He now continues that teac...
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