2 Peter 1:1-10
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Salutation
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:[a]
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
The Christian’s Call and Election
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to[b] his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.[c] 5 For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall;
Mark 13:1-8
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
13 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down.”
3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “Take heed that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines; this is but the beginning of the sufferings.
15 Our venerable fathers Paul of Thebes and John the Hut-dweller. Paul was a disciple of our Venerable Father Anthony the Great and one of the earliest of the “desert fathers,” living as a hermit in the Thebaid in Egypt. (c. 345). John of Constantinople briefly lived in a retreat in the home of his father. He left home for six years and came back and lived in a “kalyba” (i.e. a hut) as a beggar in rags wholly surrendered to contemplation, subsisting on the charity of his unwitting parents. His parents recognized him, after his death, from a gold codex of the Gospels that they had given him. (5th century) 6 stichera.
Friday, January 15 –