He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”  2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.  3 Give us each day our daily bread 4 and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”  5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7 and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’  8 I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.  9 “And I tell ...

This excerpt from Saint Ephrem is a testimony to the rich, inexhaustible treasure that is Sacred Scripture. God’s Word is like a spring offering spiritual drink which never runs dry. It always has the ability to satisfy our thirst for God and his truth. Lord, who can comprehend even one of your words? We lose more of it than we grasp, like those who drink from a living spring. For God’s word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener. And the Lord has portrayed his message in many colors, so that whoever gazes upon it can see in it what suits him. Within it he has buried manifold treasures, so that each of us might grow rich in seeking them out. INEXHAUSTIBLE SPRING & RICH TREASURE The word of God is a tree of life that offers us blessed fruit from each of its branches. It is like that rock which was struck open in the wilderness, from which all were offered spiritual drink. As the Apostle says: They ate spiritual food and they drank spiritual drink. And so w...

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.  31 A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.  32 Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.  33 But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.  34 He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.  35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’  36 Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim...

At that very moment he rejoiced [in] the holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.   22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”   23 Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.   24 For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”   25 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”   26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”   27 He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your G...

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ 16 Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” 17 The seventy[-two] returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”   18 Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.   19 Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.   20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Jesus continued to ...

After this the Lord appointed seventy[-two] others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.  2 He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.  3 Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.  4 Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.  5 Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’  6 If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.  7 Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another.  8 Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, 9 cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’  10 Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go o...

Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed.  24 Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.  26 For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.  27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise. The Mosaic Law was divinely ordained in order to prepare for freedom in Christ.  The Law had temporarily held the Jews in custody and was a disciplinarian until faith came through Jesus Christ in whom we were justified; “ For Christ is the end of the law for the justification of everyone who has...

Although he had performed so many signs in their presence they did not believe in him, 38 in order that the word which Isaiah the prophet spoke might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed our preaching, to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?”  39 For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said:  40 “He blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted, and I would heal them.”  41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him.  42 Nevertheless, many, even among the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue.  43 For they preferred human praise to the glory of God. The evangelist explained the unbelief of the Israelites by using words from Isaiah the Prophet “ Make the heart of this people sluggish, dull their ears and close their eyes; Le...

Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand.  2 Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; 4 that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to 5 Cephas, then to the Twelve.  6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  7 After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  8 Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.  9 For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ...

Paul Encouraged the Galatians to be Loyal to the Gospel he Preached (Gal. 1:6-20) 6 I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by [the] grace [of Christ] for a different gospel 7 (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the gospel of Christ.  8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed!  9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed!  10 Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.  11 Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin.  12 For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus...

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash [their] hands when they eat a meal.”  3 He said to them in reply, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?  4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother shall die.’  5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is dedicated to God,” 6 need not honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition.  7 Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said:  8 ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’”  10 He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand.  11 It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the ...

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. 48 If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, 50 nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, 52 but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53 So from that day on they planned to kill him. 54 So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Je...

The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves (Gen 3:6-7).  17 To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you! In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life.  18 Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field.  19 By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:17-19).' 12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.  13 Seeing from a dista...

When Jesus had crossed again [in the boat] to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.  22 One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.”  24 He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.   35 While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”  36 Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”  37 He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.  38 When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly....

Moving on from there Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there.  30 Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.  31 The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorified the God of Israel.  32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.”  33 The disciples said to him, “Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?”  34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”  35 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.  36 Then he took the seven loaves ...

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.  46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.  47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.  48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.  49 Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.  51 “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.”  52 And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroo...

Hear then the parable of the sower.  19 The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.  20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.  21 But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.  22 The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.  23 But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Failure to understand the word of the Kingdom results from a failure to accept the word in one’s heart.  Doubt or rejection is placed there by the evil one, but Jesus has power over the evil one (Mk. 1:27) so it is the choice o...

J ustin here describes the way the Sunday Eucharist was celebrated in Rome about 150 AD about 50-60 years after the last New Testament books.  It shows that: 1) the Eucharist was interpreted in a very realistic way in the early church, the bread and wine becoming the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ; 2) it was the principal, weekly worship celebration of the Christian community; 3) it took place on Sunday, not on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath; and 4) the meaning of the Eucharist and manner of its celebration was handed down by the apostles. N o one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ. EUCHARIST NOT ORDINARY FOOD W e do not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man of flesh ...