Matthew 6:1-6

1 Be careful not to make a show of your good deeds before people. If you do so, you do not gain any thing from your Father in heaven.

2 When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted be fore you, as do those who want to be noticed in the synagogues and in the streets, in order to be praised by people. I assure you, they have their reward.

3 If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.

5 When you pray, do not be like those who want to be noticed. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners, in order to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have their reward.

6 When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and your Father who sees what is kept secret will re ward you.

Mark 8:34-9:1

34 Then Jesus called the people and his disciples, and said, “If you want to follow me, deny yourself; take up your cross and follow me.

35 For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, you will save it.

36 What good is it, to gain the whole world, while destroying your soul?

37 There is nothing more precious than your soul.

38 I tell you, if anyone is ashamed of me and of my words, among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

1 And he went on to say, “Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.”

Mark 9:30-37 

30 After leaving that place, they made their way through Galilee; but Jesus did not want people to know where he was

31 because he was teaching his disciples. And he told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, but three days after he has been killed, he will rise.”

32 The disciples, however, did not understand these words and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.

33 They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

34 But they did not answer, because they had been arguing about who was the greatest. 

35 Then he sat down, called the Twelve and said to them, “If someone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all.”

36 Then he took a little child, placed him in their midst, and putting his arms around him he said to them,

37 “Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me, but the One who sent me.”

Mark 8:27-33 

27 Jesus set out with his disciples for the villages around Caesarea Philip pi; and on the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28 And they told him, “Some say, you are John the Baptist; others say, you are Elijah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked them,

29 “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

30 And he ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

31 Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. He would be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 Jesus said all this quite openly, so that Peter took him aside and began to protest strongly.

33 But Jesus, turning around, and looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

Mark 9:14-29

14 When they came to the place where they had left the disciples, they saw many people around them and some teachers of the law arguing with them.

15 When the people saw Jesus, they were astonished and ran to greet him.

16 He asked, “What are you arguing about with them?”

17 A man answered him from the crowd, “Master, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit, deaf and mute.

18 Whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not.”

19 Jesus replied, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.”

20 And they brought the boy to him. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it shook and convulsed the boy, who fell on the ground and began rolling about, foaming at the mouth.

21 Then Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “From childhood.

22 And it has often thrown him into the fi re and into the water to destroy him. If you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.”

23 Jesus said to him, “Why do you say, ‘If you can?’ All things are possible for one who believes.”

24 Immediately, the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe, but help the little faith I have.”

25 Jesus saw that the crowd was increasing rapidly, so he ordered the evil spirit, “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you: Leave the boy and never enter him again.”

26 The evil spirit shook and convulsed the boy and with a terrible shriek came out. The boy lay like a corpse and people said, “He is dead.”

27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and the boy stood up.

28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive out the spirit?”

29 And he answered, “Only prayer can drive out this kind, nothing else.”

Mark 8:22-26

22 When they came to Bethsaida, Jesus was asked to touch a blind man who was brought to him.

23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had put spittle on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked, “Can you see anything?”

24 The man, who was beginning to see, replied, “I see people! They look like trees, but they move around.”

25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and the man could see perfectly. His sight was restored and he could see everything clearly.

26 Then Jesus sent him home, saying, “Do not return to the village.”

Matthew 5:38-48

38 You have heard, that it was said: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

39 But I tell you this: do not oppose evil with evil; if someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn and offer the other.

40 If someone sues you in court for your shirt, give him your coat as well.

41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go two miles with him.

42 Give when asked, and do not turn your back on anyone who wants to borrow from you.

43 You have heard, that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy.

44 But this I tell you love your enemies; and pray for those who persecute you,

45 so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good; and he gives rain to both the just and the unjust.

46 If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much?

47 And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much?

48 As for you, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Mark 8:14-21

 14 The disciples had forgotten to bring more bread, and had only one loaf with them in the boat.

15 Then Jesus warned them, “Keep your eyes open, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

16 And they said to one another, “He saw that we have no bread.”

17 Aware of this, Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about the loaves you are short of? Do you not see or understand? Are your minds closed?

18 Have you eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear? And do you not re member

19 when I broke the fi ve loaves among fi ve thousand? How many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?” They answered, “Twelve.”

20 “And having distributed sev en loaves to the four thousand, how many wicker baskets of leftovers did you collect?” They answered, “Seven.” 

21 Then Je sus said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Matthew 16:13-19

13 After that, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They said, “For some of them, you are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

15 Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?”

16 Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

18 And now I say to you: You are Peter; and on this Rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it.

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

Mark 8:11-13

11 The Pharisees came and started to argue with Jesus. Hoping to embarrass him, they asked for some heavenly sign.

12 Then his spirit was moved. He gave a deep sigh and said, “Why do the people of this present time ask for a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this people.”

13 Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side of the lake.