Beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. On those who waver, have mercy; save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh. To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory, to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.

O God, you are my God whom I seek; for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory, for your kindness is a greater good than life; my lips shall glorify you. Thus will I bless you while I live; lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name. As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied, and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.

Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?" Jesus said to them, "I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John's baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me." They discussed this among themselves and said, "If we say, 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say, '(Then) why did you not believe him?' But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"--they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know." Then Jesus said to them, "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

The Only-begotten, the absolute Wisdom of God is the creator and maker of all things. “In wisdom you made all things”, as one of the Psalms says (…) As our human word is the image of the Son of God considered as Word (cf. Jn 1:1), so too the wisdom which is impressed in us is an image of the same Son considered as Wisdom. In this wisdom we have the power of knowledge and thought, and we become capable of receiving the creative Wisdom; and through this we are enabled to know its Father. As scripture says: “He who has the Son has the Father also” (1 Jn 2:23), and again: “He who receives me receives him who sent me” (Mt 10:40) (…) “But since, in the wisdom of God, as we have explained, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21). God no longer wanted, as in former times, to be known through the image and shadow of wisdom that exists In created things. He made the true Wisdom itself take flesh, and become man, and suffer the death of the cross, so that for the future all who believe might be saved by faith in him. The Wisdom of God formerly revealed itself through its own image impressed on created things (…) and through itself revealed its own Father. It is the same Wisdom of God which later, being the Word, “became flesh” as Saint John says (1:14), and after “destroying death” (1 Cor 15:26) and saving our race revealed himself still more fully and, through himself, his Father. Which caused him to say: “Grant that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). Hence the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of him. The knowledge of Father through Son and of Son from Father is one and the same. The Father rejoices in him, and with the same joy the Son delights in the Father. “It was I in whom he rejoiced,” he says, “every day I took delight in his presence” (Prv 8:30).

Beloved: The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and sober for prayers. Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.

Say among the nations: The LORD is king. He has made the world firm, not to be moved; He governs the peoples with equity. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them. Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the LORD. The LORD comes, he comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy.

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area. He looked around at everything and, since it was already late, went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry. Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. And he said to it in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!" And his disciples heard it. They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area. Then he taught them saying, "Is it not written: 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples'? But you have made it a den of thieves." The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city. Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots. Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered." Jesus said to them in reply, "Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions."

“On entering the Temple area Jesus began to drive out those selling and buying there.” Some people were astonished by the resurrection of Lazarus (Jn 11,44), some were overcome with amazement that a widow's son should be raised to life (Lk 7,15), yet others were struck by other miracles. There is no question that it is a wonderful thing to restore a dead body to life. But on my part I am even more struck by the present incident. This man who was the son of a carpenter, a poor fellow without anywhere to live, without shelter to rest, with no army and who was neither leader nor judge – what power had enabled him to... drive out such a large crowd when he himself stood alone? No one protested, no one dared put up a resistance since no one dared resist the Son who was making good the wound inflicted on his Father... “He began to drive out those selling and buying in the Temple.” If this was possible among the Jews then why should it not be even more so among ourselves? If this could happen in the context of the Law why should it not be even more likely in that of the Gospel?... Christ, a poor man, drives out the buyers and sellers who are rich. The one who sells is thrown out for the same reason as the one who buys. Let no one say: “Look at me, I hold out all I possess, I make offerings to the priests as God commanded.” We read this in a passage from Saint Matthew: “Freely you received, freely give” (Mt 10,8). God's grace is not for sale, it is given.

Beloved, like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were "no people" but now you are God's people; you "had not received mercy" but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul. Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that if they speak of you as evildoers, they may observe your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Sing joyfully to the Lord all you lands, serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song. Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; give thanks to him; bless his name.  The LORD is good: his kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations.

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

I am the light of the world. — John viii, 12. Indeed, He is the light of the world, even of the material universe, for He gives the sun its light, and the moon and stars; He is the light of our bodily eyes; He is especially the beautiful light of reason shining in our souls. And to this light, to God our Saviour, the ource of all light, must the light in every creature return again or it will lapse into utter darkness; and He that is the light of the world hateth darkness. Now, Jesus says to thee : I am the true light, and I will give thee My eternal light to expel thy darkness, and with My light I will give thee My being, My life, My glory and My joy. And now let us consider the true way, and the shortest way leading into the very focus of this heavenly light. Briefly, it is unfeigned self-denial joined to boundless love of God — one's own self in not a single particular and God's honor in all things. Let there be no crooked, but all straight ways in thee; whatever comes to thee, accept it as immediately out of the hand of God, sweet or bitter, and refer it all back again into the same loving hand, in entire abandonment to His holy will. This is the straight road to perfection