In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God swept over the waters. And God made the day and the night, the heaven and the earth, the sea and the land, the trees and the grass, the sun and the moon, the birds and the fish, tame animals and wild animals. And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." So God created man in his own image, male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it." God saw everything that he had made, and it was supremely good.

The snake was the most intelligent of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. The snake said to the woman, "You won't die! God knows that on the day you eat from the tree, you will see clearly and you will be like God knowing good and evil." The woman took some of its fruit and gave some to her husband where they both ate it. So, in the same way that sin entered the world through one person, and death came through sin, so death spread to all human beings with the result that all sinned.

In the past, God spoke through the prophets to our ancestors in many times and in many ways. In these final days, though, he spoke to us through his son. God made his son the heir of everything and created the world through him. The son is the light of God's glory and the imprint of God's being.

During the rule of King Herod of Judea, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a virgin called Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of the House of David. When the angel came to her, he said, "Hail Mary, be not afraid, the Lord is with you. The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and there will be no end to his kingdom. Your cousin Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labelled unable to conceive is now six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible for God." Then Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant. Let it be just as you have said.".

In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. Since Joseph belonged to David's house and family line, he and Mary, who was pregnant, went from Nazareth in Galilee to David's city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. There Mary gave birth to her son, she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn. Nearby, shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep. The Lord's angel appeared before them and said: "Don't be afraid, I bring you good news, wonderful joyous news for all people. Your saviour is born today in David's city. He is Christ the Lord. This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

God made his will known to Israel through his commandments. On Mount Sinai God gave Moses two covenant tablets, the stone tablets written by God's finger.

Moses came down from the mountain and, as he came closer, he saw the people dancing around a golden statue of a bull calf. Then he spoke to the people, "You have sinned terribly through your making a statue of a god in gold." There are no other folk that God knows as the folk of Israel with whom he has a special bond.

As Jesus walked alongside the sea of Galilee He saw fishermen throwing their nets into the sea. He said to them, "come follow me and I will show how to fish for people." They left their nets at once and followed Him. Jesus and His disciples travelled throughout Galilee. Jesus taught in the synagogues announcing the Good News and healed every disease and sickness among the people, and many people were brought to Him.

Let us thank God for the Good News. Lord Jesus, teach us to pray.

When they were in the desert, the whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "Oh, how we wish that the Lord had just put us to death while we were still in the land of Egypt. There we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread. Instead, you have brought us out into this desert to starve."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "I am going to make bread rain down from the sky. The people will go out every day and gather just enough for that day. In this way, I will test them to see whether or not they follow my instruction."

Moses said to them, "Don't keep any of it until morning." But they didn't listen to Moses. Some kept part of it until morning, but it became infested with worms and stank. Moses was angry with them.

Jesus went across the Galilee Sea (that is the Tiberius Sea). A large crowd followed Him, because they had seen the miraculous signs He had done. It was shortly before Passover, the Jewish festival. Jesus saw the crowd which was about five thousand in number and asked the disciples to find food for them, but there was just a youth with five loaves and two fish, much too little to feed so many. Then Jesus took the bread. When He had given thanks, He distributed it to those who were sitting there. He did the same for the fish, each getting as much as they wanted. When they had had plenty to eat they gathered up the leftover pieces, so that nothing would be wasted, and filled twelve baskets. When the people saw that He had done a miraculous sign, they said, "This is truly the prophet who is coming into the world."

After hearing Jesus teach, many Jews left His company but the twelve disciples remained although Jesus asked them if they wanted to stay. Simon Peter answered Him saying, "Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know you are God's holy one." But Jesus knew that one of the twelve, Judas Iscariot, was going to betray Him…

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him and shouted:

Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb bringing with them the fragrant spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. Suddenly two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing. The men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised."

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter stood, raised his voice and said: "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, listen carefully to my words! Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs, that God did through Him whilst He was among you: this Jesus, whom you betrayed, and killed by nailing Him to a cross, God raised Him up! And we are all witnesses to that fact. Each of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."