— — — —

Gospel Reading:
The Little Children and Jesus

People were bringing little children to Jesus
for him to place his hands on them,
but the disciples rebuked them.
 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them,
“Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
 Truly I tell you,
anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
 And he took the children in his arms,
placed his hands on them and blessed them.
(Mark 10:13-16).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Divorce

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea
and across the Jordan.
Again crowds of people came to him,
and as was his custom, he taught them.

Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

“What did Moses command you?” he replied.

They said,
“Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,”
Jesus replied.
“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’
 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
 and the two will become one flesh.’
 So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

 When they were in the house again,
the disciples asked Jesus about this.
 He answered,
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.
And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
(Mark 10:1-12).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Causing to Stumble

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—
those who believe in me—to stumble,
it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck
and they were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell,
where the fire never goes out.
 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out.
It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye
than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
    and the fire is not quenched.’^[d]

Everyone will be salted with fire.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness,
how can you make it salty again?
Have salt among yourselves,
and be at peace with each other.”
(Mark 9:42-50).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us

“Teacher,” said John,
“we saw someone driving out demons in your name
and we told him to stop,
because he was not one of us.”

 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said.
“For no one who does a miracle in my name
can in the next moment say anything bad about me,
 for whoever is not against us is for us.
 Truly I tell you,
anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name
because you belong to the Messiah
will certainly not lose their reward.
(Mark 9:38-41).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time

They left that place and passed through Galilee.
Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were,
because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them,
“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.
They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

They came to Capernaum.
When he was in the house, he asked them,
“What were you arguing about on the road?”
But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said,
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last,
and the servant of all.”

 He took a little child whom he placed among them.
Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,
 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me;
and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
(Mark 9:30-37).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)