Reading
The Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy 1: 1-8
| 1:1 | Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, in accord with the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, |
| 1:2 | to Timothy, most beloved son. Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| 1:3 | I give thanks to God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. For without ceasing I hold the remembrance of you in my prayers, night and day, |
| 1:4 | desiring to see you, recalling your tears so as to be filled with joy, |
| 1:5 | calling to mind the same faith, which is in you unfeigned, which also first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and also, I am certain, in you. |
| 1:6 | Because of this, I admonish you to revive the grace of God, which is in you by the imposition of my hands. |
| 1:7 | For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of virtue, and of love, and of self-restraint. |
| 1:8 | And so, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. Instead, collaborate with the Gospel in accord with the virtue of God, |
Or:
The Letter of St. Paul to Titus 1: 1- 5
| 1:1 | Paul, a servant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, in accord with the faith of God’s elect and in acknowledgment of the truth which is accompanied by piety, |
| 1:2 | in the hope of the eternal life that God, who does not lie, promised before the ages of time, |
| 1:3 | which, at the proper time, he has manifested by his Word, in the preaching that has been entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior; |
| 1:4 | to Titus, beloved son according to the common faith. Grace and peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Savior. |
| 1:5 | For this reason, I left you behind in Crete: so that those things which are lacking, you would correct, and so that you would ordain, throughout the communities, priests, (just as I also ordained you) |
Mark 3: 22- 30
| 3:22 | And the scribes who had descended from Jerusalem said, “Because he has Beelzebub, and because by the prince of demons does he cast out demons.” |
| 3:23 | And having called them together, he spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? |
| 3:24 | For if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand. |
| 3:25 | And if a house is divided against itself, that house is not able to stand. |
| 3:26 | And if Satan has risen up against himself, he would be divided, and he would not be able to stand; instead he reaches the end. |
| 3:27 | No one is able to plunder the goods of a strong man, having entered into the house, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he shall plunder his house. |
| 3:28 | Amen I say to you, that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and the blasphemies by which they will have blasphemed. |
| 3:29 | But he who will have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit shall not have forgiveness in eternity; instead he shall be guilty of an eternal offense.” |
| 3:30 | For they said: “He has an unclean spirit.” |