Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you,...

Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and...

Rules. We tend to love them and hate them. We love them especially when they apply to other people, less so when they’re directed at us. At our best moments, we may realize that rules help us keep ourselves in check, but those really are out best moments…and sometimes they feel mighty...

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon...

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. It’s amazing just how much trouble these two verses caused the early church....