God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over her sons. He who honors his father atones for sins; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. He who honors his father is gladdened by children, and when he prays he is heard. He who reveres his father will live a long life; he obeys the LORD who brings comfort to his mother. My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate with him; revile him not in the fullness of your strength. For kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins-a house raised in justice to you.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; Your children like olive plants around your table. Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. The LORD bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.

When the Magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt I called my son." When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazorean."

My Jesus, who art present near me, shew me what to think about your hidden life. 'He went down with them and went to Nazareth and was subject unto them.' He went down, lowered himself, humbled himself. It was a life of humility. My God, you appear in the likeness of man, and becoming man you make yourself the lowest of men. Yours was a life of abjection. You took the lowest of the low places. You went down with them, to live their life, the life of the poor working people, living by their labour. Your life, like theirs, was poor, laborious, hard-working. They were humble and obscure. You lived in the shade of their obscurity. You went to Nazareth, a little village, lost, hidden in the mountains whence, it was said, 'no good came forth.' It was like a retreat. You were apart from the world and the towns, in this retreat you lived. You were subject to them under their authority, as a son is to his father or his brother. It was a life of submission, of filial submission. You were a good obedient son. If your parents' wishes were not in perfect accord with your divine vocation you would not carry them out. You would ' rather obey God than man,' as when you stayed those three days in Jerusalem. But except in such a case when your vocation would claim you rather than the fulfilling of their wishes, you would fulfil them like the best of sons, not only obeying their smallest wish, but forestalling them, doing all that could give them pleasure, consoling them, making life sweet and pleasant for them, trying, with all your heart, to make them happy, being a model for all sons, having great thought for your parents, that is to say, in the measure allowed you by your vocation. This was your life at Nazareth, and it is my infinite happiness and incomparable grace to live in this beloved Nazareth. Yours was the life of a model Son with your humble working parents.

Beloved; what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life-- for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us-- what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory. Light dawns for the just; And gladness, for the upright of heart. Be glad in the LORD, you just, And give thanks to his holy name.

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.

I think the four evangelists are crucial elements in the faith of the Church. . . and I think that the first shoot of the gospels lies. . . in the gospel of John who, in speaking of him of whom others gave the genealogy, begins with him who had none. Thus Matthew, writing for Jews awaiting the son of Abraham and of David the son of Abraham, says: "The genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham" (1:1); and Mark, well aware of what he is writing, puts: "Beginning of the gospel" (1:1). But we find the whole end of the gospel in John; it is: "the Word that was in the beginning", the Word of God (1:1). Luke, too, keeps the most important and perfect discourses concerning Jesus for the one who leaned on Jesus' breast (Jn 13:35). None of them showed his divinity in so absolute a manner as John, who makes him say: "I am the light of the world", "I am the way, the truth and the life", "I am the resurrection", "I am the door", "I am the Good Shepherd" (8:12; 14:6; 11:25; 10:9.11) and, in the Apocalypse: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (22:13). So we must dare to say that the Gospels are the firstfruits of Scripture as a whole and that, from among the gospels, the first place belongs to John, whose meaning no one can grasp who has not leaned on Jesus' breast and received Mary for his mother from Jesus himself (Jn 19:27). . . When Jesus said to his mother: "Behold, your son" and not, "Behold, this man is also your son", it is as if he said to her: "Behold the son to whom you gave birth". Indeed, whoever has reached perfection "is no longer alive, but Christ lives in him" (Gal 2,20). . . Do we still have to say what kind of intelligence is needed for us worthily to interpret the word laid in earthern treasures (cf. 2Cor 4,7) in plain language? in the letter that can be read by anyone at all? in the word that a word can make audible and that all who listen may hear? For, to interpret John's gospel accurately, we must be able to say: "As for us, we have the mind of Christ so that we may understand the things freely given us by God" (1Cor 2:16.12).

Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety. You are my rock and my fortress; for your name's sake you will lead and guide me. Into your hands I commend my spirit; You will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy. Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness.

Jesus said to His disciples: "Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved."