Sand

Matthew 7: 21"Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 24"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; 25and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; 27and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."

Follow

Matthew 4: 18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Follow

Mark 10: 17And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: `Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 20And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." 21And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Centurion

Matthew 8: 5As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him 6and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." 7And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it." 10When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

Ready

Matthew 24: 37As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. 42Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Snare

Luke 21: 34"But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; 35for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. 36But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man."

St Catherine of Alexandria

Feastday Nov 25 Born: (around) 285 :: Died: 305 Catherine lived in early Christian times and was the daughter of a wealthy pagan couple of Alexandria, Egypt. She was a very beautiful girl whose great interest was in learning. Catherine was very good at science and public speaking. She loved to study deep questions of philosophy and religion. She began to read about Christianity. Then one day she received a vision and decided to become a Christian. St. Catherine was only eighteen when Emperor Maxentius began making the Christians suffer. Without fear, lovely young Catherine told him that he was being very cruel and would be punished by God. When he spoke of the pagan gods, she very plainly showed him that they were false. Maxentius could not answer her arguments, so he sent for fifty of his best pagan philosophers. Once again, Catherine proved the truth of her religion. All fifty philosophers were convinced that she was right and decided to become Christians. In great anger, Maxentius had every one of them killed. Then, he tried to win her by offering her a queen's crown. When Catherine refused the crown, he had her beaten and thrown into prison. While Maxentius was away at camp, his wife and an officer were very curious to hear this amazing Christian girl speak and went to her prison cell. All who heard her knew she spoke the truth and as a result they and two hundred soldiers of the guard were converted and became Christians. When Maxentius found out, they were all put to death. Then he ordered Catherine to be placed on a wheel full of spikes to be tortured to death. When the wheel began to spin, it suddenly snapped in two and broke. Finally, St. Catherine was beheaded. She has always been the patroness of Christian philosophers.

Pass

Luke 21: 29And he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; 30as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Lepers

Luke 17: 11On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Sama'ria and Galilee. 12And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13and lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." 14When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

Endurance

Luke 21: 12But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13This will be a time for you to bear testimony. 14Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; 15for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; 17you will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Advent

Luke 21: 5And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6"As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." 7And they asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, `I am he!' and, `The time is at hand!' Do not go after them. 9And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once." 10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

All

Luke 21: 1He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; 2and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. 3And he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had."

Theif

Luke 23: 35And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, 37and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" 38There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews." 39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Resurrection

Luke 20: 27There came to him some Sadducees, those who say that there is no resurrection, 28and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and died without children; 30and the second 31and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32Afterward the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife." 34And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him." 39And some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." 40For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Faith

Matthew 14: 22Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." 28And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; 30but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Mercy

Matthew 25: 31"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. 34Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' 40And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

Interest

Luke 19: 11As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12He said therefore, "A nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return. 13Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, `Trade with these till I come.' 14But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, `We do not want this man to reign over us.' 15When he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. 16The first came before him, saying, `Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.' 17And he said to him, `Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.' 18And the second came, saying, `Lord, your pound has made five pounds.' 19And he said to him, `And you are to be over five cities.' 20Then another came, saying, `Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; 21for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.' 22He said to him, `I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?' 24And he said to those who stood by, `Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.' 25(And they said to him, `Lord, he has ten pounds!') 26`I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'" 28And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Zacchaeus

Luke 19: 1He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2And there was a man named Zacchae'us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. 3And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. 4So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. 5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchae'us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." 6So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. 7And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." 8And Zacchae'us stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." 9And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."

Blind

Luke 18: 35As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; 36and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. 37They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." 38And he cried, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 39And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 40And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, 41"What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me receive my sight." 42And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." 43And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Endurance

Luke 17 5And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6"As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." 7And they asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, `I am he!' and, `The time is at hand!' Do not go after them. 9And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once." 10Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13This will be a time for you to bear testimony. 14Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; 15for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; 17you will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Judge

1And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; 3and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, `Vindicate me against my adversary.' 4For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, `Though I neither fear God nor regard man, 5yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'" 6And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Temptations

Luke 17: 1And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; 4and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, `I repent,' you must forgive him." 5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6And the Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, `Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Living

Luke 20: 27There came to him some Sadducees, those who say that there is no resurrection, 28and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and died without children; 30and the second 31and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32Afterward the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife." 34And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him."

Last day

John 6: 37All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Steward

Luke 16: 1He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2And he called him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' 3And the steward said to himself, `What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.' 5So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, `How much do you owe my master?' 6He said, `A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, `Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7Then he said to another, `And how much do you owe?' He said, `A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Sinner

Luke 15: 1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." 3So he told them this parable: 4"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.' 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.' 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Lazarus

John 11: 17Now when Jesus came, he found that Laz'arus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." 23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world."