Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17- 19
1:4 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: |
1:5 | “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.” |
1:17 | Therefore, you should gird your waist, and rise up, and speak to them everything that I instruct you. You should not have dread before their face. For I will cause you to be unafraid of their countenance. |
1:18 | For certainly, this day, I have made you like a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and a brass wall, over all the land, to the kings of Judah, to its leaders, and to the priests, and to the people of the land. |
1:19 | And they will make war against you, but they will not prevail. For I am with you, says the Lord, so that I may free you.” |
First Corinthians 12: 31- 13: 13
12:31 | But be zealous for the better charisms. And I reveal to you a yet more excellent way. |
13:1 | If I were to speak in the language of men, or of Angels, yet not have charity, I would be like a clanging bell or a crashing cymbal. |
13:2 | And if I have prophecy, and learn every mystery, and obtain all knowledge, and possess all faith, so that I could move mountains, yet not have charity, then I am nothing. |
13:3 | And if I distribute all my goods in order to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, yet not have charity, it offers me nothing. |
13:4 | Charity is patient, is kind. Charity does not envy, does not act wrongly, is not inflated. |
13:5 | Charity is not ambitious, does not seek for itself, is not provoked to anger, devises no evil. |
13:6 | Charity does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices in truth. |
13:7 | Charity suffers all, believes all, hopes all, endures all. |
13:8 | Charity is never torn away, even if prophecies pass away, or languages cease, or knowledge is destroyed. |
13:9 | For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part. |
13:10 | But when the perfect arrives, the imperfect passes away. |
13:11 | When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child. But when I became a man, I put aside the things of a child. |
13:12 | Now we see through a glass darkly. But then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I am known. |
13:13 | But for now, these three continue: faith, hope, and charity. And the greatest of these is charity. |
Luke 4: 21- 30
4:21 | Then he began to say to them, “On this day, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” |
4:22 | And everyone gave testimony to him. And they wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth. And they said, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” |
4:23 | And he said to them: “Certainly, you will recite to me this saying, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ The many great things that we have heard were done in Capernaum, do here also in your own country.” |
4:24 | Then he said: “Amen I say to you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country. |
4:25 | In truth, I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elijah in Israel, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, when a great famine had occurred throughout the entire land. |
4:26 | And to none of these was Elijah sent, except to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. |
4:27 | And there were many lepers in Israel under the prophet Elisha. And none of these was cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian.” |
4:28 | And all those in the synagogue, upon hearing these things, were filled with anger. |
4:29 | And they rose up and drove him beyond the city. And they brought him all the way to the edge of the mount, upon which their city had been built, so that they might thrown him down violently. |
4:30 | But passing through their midst, he went away. |