But the angel said to him: " Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, whom you shall call by the name John.

"This is what the Lord has done for me," she said, "now that he has deigned to take away the reproach under which I have been living."

For he has remembered his servant in her lowliness; And from this hour all ages will count me happy!

Great things has the Almighty done for me; And holy is his name.

He has stretched out his hand to his servant Israel, Ever mindful of his mercy

"Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, Who has visited his people and wrought their deliverance,

And has raised up for us the Strength of our Salvation In the House of his servant David--

This day there has been born to you, in the town of David, a Savior, who is Christ and Lord.

Now, when the angels had left them and gone back to Heaven, the shepherds said to one another: "Let us go at once to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, of which the Lord has told us."

Which thou hast prepared in the sight of all nations--

And John said to the crowds that went to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?

"Let the man who has two coats," answered John, "share with him who has none; and the man who has food do the same."

"I will give you all this power, and the splendor of them; for it has been given into my hands and I give it to whom I wish.

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, For he has consecrated me to bring Good News to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and restoration of sight to the blind, To set the oppressed at liberty,

And Jesus began: "This very day this passage has been fulfilled in your hearing."

"Doubtless," said Jesus, "you will remind me of the saying-- 'Doctor, cure yourself;' and you will say 'Do here in your own country all that we have heard that has been done at Capernaum.'

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"-- he spoke to the paralyzed man-- "To you I say, Get up, and take up your pallet, and go to your home."

Every one was awe-struck and began praising God. "A great Prophet has arisen among us," they said; "and God has visited his people."

When these men found Jesus, they said: "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask--'Are you 'The Coming One,' or are we to look for somebody else?'"

For now that John the Baptist has come, not eating bread or drinking wine, you are saying 'He has a demon in him';

And now that the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, you are saying 'Here is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax- gatherers and outcasts.'

And then, turning to the woman, he said to Simon: "Do you see this woman? I came into your house--you gave me no water for my feet, but she has made my feet wet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

You did not give me one kiss, but she, from the moment I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.

You did not anoint even my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume.

And for this, I tell you, her sins, many as they are, have been pardoned, because she has loved greatly; but one who has little pardoned him, loves but little."

But Jesus said to the woman: "Your faith has delivered you; go, and peace be with you."

Other seed fell into rich soil, and grew, and gave a hundred-fold return." After saying this, Jesus cried aloud: "Let him who has ears to hear with hear."

"To you," he said, "the knowledge of the hidden truths of the Kingdom of God has been imparted, but to others in parables only, that 'though they have eyes they may not see, and though they have ears, they may not understand.'

"Go back to your home," he said, "and relate the story of all that God has done for you." So the man went through the whole town and proclaimed, as he went, all that Jesus had done for him.

"Daughter," he said, "your faith has delivered you. Go, and peace be with you."

"John the Baptist," was their answer; "others, however, say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the old Prophets has risen again."

What good does it do a man if, when he has gained the whole world, he has lost or forfeited himself?

"Foxes have holes," he replied, "and wild birds their roosting-places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

'We wipe off the very dust of your town which has clung to Our feet; still, be assured that the Kingdom of God is close at Hand.'

At that same time, moved to exultation by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said: "I thank thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that, though thou hast hidden these things from the wise and learned, thou hast revealed them to the childlike! Yes, Father, I thank thee that this has seemed good to thee.

Everything has been committed to me by my Father; nor does any one know who the Son is, except the Father, or who the Father is, except the Son and those to whom the Son may choose to reveal him."

But only a few are necessary, or rather one. Mary has chosen the good part, and it shall not be taken away from her."

Jesus also said to them: "Suppose that one of you who has a friend were to go to him in the middle of the night and say 'Friend, lend me three loaves,

For a friend of mine has arrived at my house after a journey, and I have nothing to offer him;'

But, when one still stronger has attacked and overpowered him, he takes away all the weapons on which the other had relied, and divides his spoil.

Some of whom they will persecute and kill, in order that the 'blood' of all the prophets 'that has been spilt' since the creation of the world may be exacted from this generation--

I will show you of whom you should be afraid. Be afraid of him who, after killing you, has the power to fling you into the Pit. Yes, I say, be afraid of him.

Are not five sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them has escaped God's notice.

And then he added: "Take care to keep yourselves free from every form of covetousness; for even in the height of his prosperity a man's true Life does not depend on what he has."

So do not be afraid, my little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.

while one who does not know his master's wishes, but acts so as to deserve a flogging, will receive but few. From every one to whom much has been given much will be expected, and from the man to whom much has been entrusted the more will be demanded.

But this woman, a daughter of Abraham, who has been kept in bondage by Satan for now eighteen years, ought not she to have been released from her bondage on the Sabbath?"

When once the master of the house has got up and shut the door, while you begin to say, as you stand outside and knock, 'Sir, open the door for us.' His answer will be--'I do not know where you come from.'

And he said to them: "Which of you, finding that his son or his ox has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath Day?"

No, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place, so that, when he who has invited you comes, he may say to you 'Friend, come higher up'; and then you will be honored in the eyes of all your fellow-guests.

Presently the servant said 'Sir, your order has been carried out, and still there is room.'

Why, which of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and reckon the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?--

For fear that, if he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, every one who sees it should begin to laugh at him,

And so with every one of you who does not bid farewell to all he has--he cannot be a disciple of mine.

It is not fit either for the land or for the manure heap. Men throw it away. Let him who has ears to hear with hear!"

"What man among you who has a hundred sheep, and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine out in the open country, and go after the lost sheep till he finds it?

And, when he has found it, he puts in on his shoulders rejoicing;

Or again, what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

And, when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, and says 'Come and rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I lost.'

After he has spent all that he had, there was a severe famine through all that country, and he began to be in actual want.

'Your brother has come back,' the servant told him, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.'

But, no sooner has this son of yours come, who has eaten up your property in the company of prostitutes, than you have killed the fattened calf for him.'

The Law and the Prophets sufficed until the time of John. Since then the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been told, and everybody has been forcing his way into it.

'Child,' answered Abraham, 'remember that you in your lifetime received what you thought desirable, just as Lazarus received what was not desirable; but now he has his consolation here, while you are suffering agony.

Get up," he said to him, "and go on your way. Your faith has delivered you."

"I tell you," he answered, "that there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, on account of the Kingdom of God,

And Jesus said: "Recover your sight, your faith has delivered you."

On seeing this, every one began to complain: "He has gone to stay with a man who is an outcast."

"Salvation has come to this house to-day," answered Jesus, "for even this man is a son of Abraham.

The Son of Man has come to 'search for those who are lost' and to save them."

Take away from him the ten pounds,' he said to those standing by, 'and give them to the one who has the hundred.'

'But, Sir,' they interposed, 'he has a hundred pounds already!'

'I tell you,' he answered, 'that, to him who has, more will be given, but, from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.

"Go to the village facing us," he said, " and, when you get there, you will find a foal tethered, which no one has yet ridden; untie it and lead it here.

And addressing him, said: "Tell us what authority you have to do these things. Who is it that has given you this authority?"

But Jesus looked at them and said: "What then is the meaning of this passage?-- 'The very stone which the builders despised has now itself become the corner-stone.'

On this he said: "I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others;

For every one else here put in something from what he had to spare, while she, in her need, has put in all she had to live upon."

I tell you that even the present generation will not pass away till all has taken place.

For I tell you that I shall not eat it again, until it has had its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God."

"Take this and share it among you. For I tell you that I shall not, after to-day, drink of the juice of the grape, till the Kingdom of God has come."

And, just as my Father has assigned me a Kingdom, I assign you places,

"Now, however," he said, "he who has a purse must take it and his bag as well; and he who has not must sell his cloak and buy a sword.

When I was with you day after day in the Temple Courts, you did not lay hands on me; but now your time has come, and the power of Darkness."

And the Master turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the words that the Master had said to him-- "Before a cock has crowed to-day, you will disown me three times";

But they insisted: "He is stirring up the people by his teaching all through Judea; he began with Galilee and has now come here."

Nor did Herod either; for he has sent him back to us. And, as a fact, he has not done anything deserving death;

"Why, what harm has this man done?" Pilate said to them for the third time. "I have found nothing in him for which he could be condemned to death. So I will have him scourged, and then release him."

And we justly so, for we are only reaping our deserts, but this man has not done anything wrong.

[He is not here; but he has risen.] Remember how he spoke to you before he left Galilee--

Look at my hands and my feet, and you will know that it is I. Feel me, and look at me, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have."

And now I am myself about to send upon you that which my Father has promised. But you must remain in the city until you have been invested with power from above."