Mt 25: 14-30

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to
them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each
according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold
went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of
gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and
hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man
who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five
bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I
will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of
gold; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I
will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard
man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was
afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and
gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with
the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will
be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be
taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Mt 25: 31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious
throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on
his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your
inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you
gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in
prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes
and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty
and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and
you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes
or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do
for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Mk 13: 33-37

Be on guard! Be alert[a]! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He
leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the
door to keep watch.

35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—
whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly,
do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

Jn 1: 6-8 , 19-28

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning
that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a
witness to the light.

19-28:

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders[a] in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask
him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you
say about yourself?”

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make
straight the way for the Lord.’
Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the
Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

“I baptize with[c] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one
who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came
to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when
it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called
together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to
be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you will come a ruler

Who will shepherd my people Israel.’[b]”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him,
report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went
ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were
overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down
and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense
and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their
country by another route.Matthew 2:1-12