The King's Corner

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”  So, Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.” Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.  (Numbers 21:4-9) Complaints!?   Bring them to the Complaint Department.   Complainers wear o

Today’s first reading is very long.  I wager no one has ever read it from beginning to end.   It’s fascinating.  I will not include it here, but suggest the reader go to the USCCB website with its reference to the Bible and The Book of Daniel to find it (sandwiched between Ezekiel and Hosea). Poor Susanna, Joakim’s wife.  Two men, old and dishonorable elders and judges, were voyeurs and watched her bathe.  They then pressured and threatened her for sexual favors – to lay with them.  They were prepared to lie.  They told her, “If you refuse, we will testify against you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.”  According to the reading, “The assembly believed them, since they were elders and judges of the people, and they condemned her to death.”  Fortunately, Daniel was suspicious, and he separated and questioned them. “After they were separated one from the other, he called one of them and said: “How you have grown evil with age! Now have your past si

March 29, 2020

March 29, 2020, Fifth Sunday of Lent Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.  (Ezekiel 37:12-14) Brothers and sisters: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you. (Romans 8:8-1

Today's Cape Cod Times provides an "Opinion" cartoon depicting our real superheroes.   Indeed, they are real and not fictional.  There's no Spiderman, Green Lantern, or Wonder Woman.  Just everyday men and women who continue to help all of us endure this long-lasting coronavirus catastrophe.  For those who staff the grocery stores, pharmacies, and provide essential medical services - all those health care workers in hospitals and elsewhere, we give thanks for their sacrifices and courage.  We give thanks to those who deliver the mail and provide many other essential services.  We offer our prayers for their safety.  Yes, they all have the "S" on their chests - "S" for Supermen and Superwomen.   It also refers to saints and saviors.  We celebrate Lent in empty churches with on-line viewing.   At Christ the King Jesus is found high above the altar and crucified on a cross.  He looks down on empty pews as if saying to us: "Fear not, this

I knew their plot because the LORD informed me; at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings. Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized that they were hatching plots against me: “Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more.” But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge, searcher of mind and heart, Let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause!   (Jeremiah 11:18-20) Trusting lambs get slaughtered.  That may be too harsh a characterization; however, we all should realize not everyone likes us.   Some actually hate us as revealed through gossip and social media plots hatched to discredit and harm us.  The motivation: envy, greed, anger, and suspicion top the list of reasons. Another reason can be where we live or where we originated.  This is especially true for immigrants.  Consider the Gospel: Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus s

The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.  He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways.  He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.  Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words,

The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ The LORD said to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation.” But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, “Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. Remember your servants Abrah

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”  Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God?  Therefore, the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!” (Isaiah 7:10-14; 8-10) Quite a sign!  A young woman will bear a son, and we will use that birth always to remind us that God is with us.  God is hard to define because the existence of God is based on belief and faith, although there is much evidence for that existence such as love between a married couple and their children.  Then came Jesus, that earth-walking manifestation of God and his commandment to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls. Now we have the Christ to whom we can turn for that company; that

Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’“ They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any  more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath. (John 5:1-16) This passage from John is an example of how the Jews as a people became condemned, persecuted, and killed by Christians.  That which happened to Jesus – his persecution, trial and execution – is blamed on all Jews, not just on the few collaborating with Roman authorities.  Fo

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. Easter promises hope and new life.  With this understood I’m remined of a poem by Emily Dickinson entitled “Hope is the thing with feathers” (above). According to one interpreter of her works, “ Hope Is The Thing With Feathers is one of the best known of Emily Dickinson's poems. An extended metaphor, it likens the concept of hope to a feathered bird that is permanently perched in the soul of every human. There it sings, never stopping in its quest to inspire…It is a kind of hymn of praise, written to honor the human capacity for hope. Using extended metaphor, the poem portrays hope as a bird that lives within th

March 22, 2020, Fourth Sunday of Lent Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

Pearls Before Swine is the name of this cartoon.   The phrase is biblical.   It’s from Matthew (7:8), and it reads: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.”  According to the USCCB website, “Dogs and swine were Jewish terms of contempt for Gentiles. This saying may originally have derived from a Jewish Christian community opposed to preaching the gospel (what is holy, pearls) to Gentiles.”   A more contemporary interpretation is that “casting pearls before swine” means wasting time by offering something that is helpful or valuable to someone who does not appreciate or understand it.  The author, Stephan Pastis, of the comic strip challenges us to understand his meaning. Pastis has been in print for many years and only recently did I discover him and appreciate his humor.  Here's a strip on the evolution of marriage. Deacon David Pierce

Saturday, March 21, 2020 Dear Parishioners of Christ the King Parish, No Public Masses – Please Participate Online: I write to remind you that in these days when prudence would dictate that we not gather in large groups, that regularly scheduled weekend Masses will be celebrated in the St. Jude Chapel, as the 8:30 AM daily Masses have been celebrated during this past week.   While Masses are not open to the public, they are available for your participation via LIVE STREAM through the parish website: https://christthekingparish.com/live-streaming/ Donate: We are fortunate that our plan to extend the availability of live streaming to the Chapel ended up being completed last Monday just in time for the greater need for this service, but at a cost of $5000.00.  Thus, we would remind you that your regular weekly donations sent by mail, dropped off to the parish office, or given online are both necessary and, as ever, always deeply appreciated. https://christthekingpari

Today is March 21, and I admit I thought this was the first day of spring 2020.  I was wrong.  On Thursday, March 19, 2020, at 11:50 p.m. EDT, we welcomed the official arrival of spring with the Vernal Equinox. This was the moment in the Northern Hemisphere when the Sun crossed the equator and the days and nights were equal in hours.  I was off by about a day, but who cares?  The hours of day now exceed those of night.  Finally! We are moving out of winter’s dark woods. Consistent with the arrival of spring is our first reading from Hosea (6:1-6) who said: “Come, let us return to the LORD, it is he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds. He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence. Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD; as certain as the dawn is his coming, and his judgment shines forth like the light of day! He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth.” 

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”  The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34)

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he

Moses spoke to the people and said: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.  Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’ For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?  “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as yo

Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram. But valiant as he was, the man was a leper. Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife. “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,” she said to her mistress, “he would cure him of his leprosy.” Naaman went and told his lord just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said. “Go,” said the king of Aram. “I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”  The above is the beginning of today’s first reading.  It ends with the following:  So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no Go

And I love you so The people ask me how How I've lived till now I tell them I don't know I guess they understand How lonely life has been But life began again The day you took my hand And yes I know How lonely life can be The shadows follow me And the night won't set me free But I don't let the evening get me down Now that your around me And you love me too Your thoughts are just for me You set my spirit free I'm happy that you do The book of life is brief And once the page is read All but life is dead That is my belief Perry Como sang this song in 1973.  Listen to it.   It speaks of loneliness and the shadows that accompany the feeling of being alone especially in the darkness of night.  It also speaks of how new-found love can cause life to begin again. “The day you took my hand” is a powerful line.  “And you love me too” is what all we want to hear.  It does set us free and makes our spirits soar. Love never ends even after our deaths. That is

Stone-faced, stone-cold, heart of stone, bloodless stone, stony disposition: these are all descriptions of someone each of us knows – a family member, a friend, an acquaintance, perhaps a stranger. This condition is caused by a difficult and troubled childhood, loss of a loved one (perhaps a parent or spouse), betrayal, sickness, sadness, loneliness or feeling abandoned and unloved. Here’s where Moses helps us help them. Our first reading from Exodus reminds us we all must be like Moses with his staff that he used to strike the stone.  When we recognize someone in need of understanding, compassion, love, and acceptance – their thirst for water, living water – instead of thinking they will be suspicious and distrustful and will stone us if we reach out to them, we must be bold and brave. We must go to them. We must take Moses’ staff we call “the Lord in our midst” made very real by our understanding, compassion, love, and acceptance. Then with that formidable staff we strike their

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.  (Micah 7:14-15, 18-20) Can we pardon sin, let go of anger, have compassion, and forgive ourselves for our wrongdoings?  According to Micah, God does, and so should we.   In a very symbolic way, we are to cast into the depths of the sea all our sins and those of others.  The sea is very deep with the average depth being 12,100 feet or 2.3 miles.   Pretty deep, dark, and cold. According to Dante, “Satan has three faces and a pair of bat-like wings affixed under each chin. As Satan beats his wings, he creates a cold wind that continues to freeze the ice surrounding him and the other sinners in the Ninth Circle. The winds he creates are felt throughout the other circles of Hell.”   Hell isn’

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.  One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem. Get ready; I will send you to them.” So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan. They noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another: “Here comes that master dreamer! Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams.” 

Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, but stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth.  Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green.  In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.  More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart to reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds. (Jeremiah 17:5-10)

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”  Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’  As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:1-12) Pract

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”  (Luke 6:36-38) Today’s Gospel is Jesus-in-a-nutshell.  It’s our Lenten blueprint.  It’s up to us to follow his directions. Seems simple enough, but in practice, not so easy.  Nevertheless, let’s give it a try this Lent.  The reward is great. Deacon David Pierce

Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48) There’s no way I will love my enemy.  I will try to understand the reasons for him/her being my enemy, and I’ll seek truces and accommodate my enemy if the demands are reasonable.  Otherwise… Perhaps the best approach is not to make enemies.  We can accomplish this through understanding, compromise, and kindness.   Love seems out of the question. God is love

Thus says the Lord GOD: If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced (Ezekiel 18:21-28). The prophet Ezekiel gives us an assurance.  He tells us it is never too late to repent provided repentance is proven by a dramatic change in attitude and behavior – keep all God’s statues and do what is right and just.   That’s quite a turn-around for a wicked person with “wicked” being defined as being evil or morally wrong, as opposed to a wicked good restaurant one might find across from Mashpee Commons. What turns a wicked man or woman around?  Perhaps being at death’s door is a key.  Perhaps that person is shown kindness and love for the first time?  Much bad behavior and resulting sins stems from childhood trauma and feeling worthless and unloved.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”  (Matthew 7:7-12) Ask, seek, and knock.  However, do we receive and find?  Is the door opened for us?  Fortunately, the door is easily found and is always ajar when we follow Jesus.  That’s a fact.  We only have to push it open, although many of us won’t put our shoulders into it.   We’re too timid because much is asked of us when we cross the threshold. Some of us are on the other side o

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation…At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” (Luke 11:29-32) Luke’s Gospel reading can be better understood with reference to Matthew (12:38-40).  He  said: Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”  He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. (Matthew 12:38-40) Jonah and the wha

Tony Bennett’s 1964 song “Taste of Honey” is about regrets – mistakes we make with loved ones.  Lent is a time for us to reflect on those mistakes and repair them if we can. “He ne'er came back to his love so fair.”  He said he would return, but he didn’t.  That taste of honey sweeter than wine never happened.  We all need to return to those we love.   Lent is a time for repentance and forgiveness, and to get those kisses of honey. Winds may blow over the icy sea I'll take with me the warmth of thee A taste of honey A taste much sweeter than wine

I am the LORD. “You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly. You shall not go about spreading slander among your kin; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the LORD.  “You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove him, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18) Our first reading speaks of love and not bearing hatred in our hearts.  It reminds me of a Perry Como song: “The Hands of Time.”  He sings of living in the moment and stopping time to enjoy those lovely moments in our lives. If the hands of time were warmed in our hands, meaning we’d not dwell on past mistakes and future problems, we’d remember who we loved, now love, and should love, including our n

March 1, 2020, First Sunday of Lent Readings for today's Homily  To watch Mass in its entirety click The Mass

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command  his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God,  to the test.” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will pr