Today we gather as a church to honour and commemorate the Feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, the Archangels of God’s Heavenly Hosts. We only know the names of these three, even though there are believed to be seven Archangels if not more. Let us take a look at what we know from the Holy Scriptures about these three Archangels of God. As St. Michael is the Prince of the heavenly hosts, let us begin with him.

St Michael:

His name means “Who is like God”. (This is a rhetorical question, as obviously means nobody is like God as God is the highest there ever was or ever can be).

St. Michael is mentioned by his name in three books of Holy  Scripture:

In Daniel, he is described as “one of the chief princes” in the heavenly hierarchy (Dan. 10:13). He is also described to Daniel as “your prince” (Dan. 10:12). The meaning of this phrase is later clarified, and Michael is described as “the great prince who has charge of your people” (Dan. 12:1). He is thus depicted as the guardian angel of Israel. These same passages also refer to Michael doing battle against the spiritual forces at work against Israel.

In Jude 9, Michael is said to have contended with the devil over the body of Moses. On this occasion, we are told, “he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you.’”

In Revelation, Michael and his angels are depicted fighting the devil and casting them out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-8). He is also commonly identified as the angel who binds the devil and seals him in the bottomless pit for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3), though the name “Michael” is not given on this occasion.

St. Gabriel:

His name means “God is my warrior” (meaning, essentially, “God is my defender”).

St. Gabriel is mentioned  in two books of Holy Scripture:

In Daniel, he is assigned to help Daniel understand the meaning of a vision he has seen (Dan. 8:16). Later, while Daniel is in a prolonged period of prayer, Gabriel comes to him (Dan. 9:21) and gives him the prophecy of “seventy weeks of years” concerning Israel’s future (Dan. 9:24-27).In Luke, he appears to Zechariah the priest and announces the conception and birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:13-19). Later, he appears to the Virgin Mary and announces the conception and birth of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:26-33).

St. Raphael:

His name means “God heals.”

St. Raphael is mentioned in only book of Scripture: Tobit.

In Tobit, the blind Tobit and the maid Sarah, whose seven husbands have been killed by the demon Asmodeus, pray to God.

The prayer of both was heard in the presence of the glory of the great God. And Raphael was sent to heal the two of them: to scale away the white films of Tobit’s eyes; to give Sarah the daughter of Raguel in marriage to Tobias the son of Tobit, and to bind Asmodeus the evil demon, because Tobias was entitled to possess her (Tob. 3:16-17).

Raphael thus becomes a travelling companion of Tobias, posing as a relative named Azarias son of Ananias (Tob. 5:12). He eventually binds the demon, enabling Tobias to safely marry Sarah, and provides the means for Tobit to be healed of his blindness.

Afterward, he reveals his true identity, saying:

I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One (Tob. 12:15).

These Archangels serve the will of God by protecting , guarding and healing us at God’s request. God has ensured his children always have the full protection not only of God himself, but also from all the hosts of heaven. Our Father loves and protects his children, only ensuring all is best for them. Let us give our thanks and praise for the wonderful gift of His Archangels, and of all the hosts of heaven to our God and heavenly Father.

Let us end with the prayer of St Michael:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,

and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts,

by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits,

who prowl about the world

seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

We all know of those certain types of people in life, you know, the ones who have very high ambitions in their lives. These ambitions can have such a vast and diverse range  and can be ambition of anything from wanting to win the jackpot in the lottery, or maybe it’s about them obtaining that certain perfect job they’ve always wanted. Maybe their ambition is for material assets such as owning a top-class speedy sports car, or maybe its an enormous luxurious mansion with floor upon floor of endless rooms and with it’s own personal swimming pool and vastly extensive grounds filled with flower gardens, ponds and rivers and woodland for those country walks. Maybe it’s  about being wealthy with endless funds and the best of material possessions. Even within some churches, I myself have personally witnessed many times sadly, those clergy members whose only ambition is to gain a Bishop title and rank when no other ministry position or role is good enough for them, not because they are truly called to Bishopric ministry as most I’ve witnessed have hardly bothered at all about true ministry and true service, because they have merely the ambitions of power and status, ambitions of ‘Lording it over people’ but sadly not truly being interested in the least in actually serving God or his people. Such ambition as this I term as ‘having mitre fever!’ This type of ambition is merely self serving and being egotistical, and ought to have no place in Christ’s church because ministry is about service and Bishops are supposed to be the servant to the servants, not Lording it over them just for the sake of it! But as in all areas of life, we get those with such ambitions, although, thankfully, it isn’t everyone who has ambitions of such types and magnitude.

Whilst to have some ambition in our life is definitely a good thing, if you are setting goals for yourself or perhaps for an organisation, it is when those ambitions lose their balance and ignores the consequences which will entend for others, that ambition can and does become very toxic and corrupt.

We have an excellent example of over ambition in our Gospel today from Matthew (MT 20:20=28), James and his brother John, who together with Peter are the three favoured apostles, who approached Jesus together with their mother. According to Matthew, it was indeed their mother who asks Jesus to promise her sons would get the highest places in His heavenly Kingdom. Jesus responds directly to James and John and Jesus recognising the possibility of corruption in their ambition, Jesus puts a stop to it by asking them, “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” Without truly understanding what they had agreed to, they replied that they could. Jesus knowing full well what awaited them, concurred with their agreement. Just like a good parent will give their teenage children a realistic picture of what to expect in Adult life, Jesus tells them that indeed they will have much to suffer.

James the Apostle that we celebrate today, became the first Martyr amongst the apostles. Jesus knew that ambition wasn’t a bad thing in itself, and he didn’t wish to extinguish his apostles enthusiasm, indeed it’s an enthusiasm about eternal life, it’s a goal that each and every one of is should indeed strive to have as great things are rarely achieved without both enthusiasm and suffering. Jesus just needed to refocus their ambition, so that they would truly understand not just the goal of eternal life, but also the true nature of the pathway that is required to achieve this goal. Jesus knowing that the Apostles could possibly succumb to the temptations of personal ambition, gave the Twelve apostles a lecture about power and authority to remind them that authority in the kingdom must not imitate the authority that is ever so present in the world.

Jesus tells them that their role as his apostles =the first shepherds of His church, was not to rule but instead was to serve. Jesus didn’t only tell them to serve only each other and the lowly of the world, but offers himself as an example -revealing to them that he will go so far as to sacrifice his very life for the sake of all humanity. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many”. Jesus is telling James, John and the other apostles that the ambitious are blessed, but that their ambition must not be driven by self=assertion, but by self=extinction. This message also goes the same for us today, that we always act with Thanksgiving and praise :Thanksgiving because all that we have, all that we are, all that we achieve =all of this is solely given to us by the Grace of God, and praise because all that we do must be for the Glory of God and not for ourselves.

Let us pray :

O Gracious God,

We remember before you today thy servant and Apostle James, the first amongst the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the name of Jesus Christ ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that Spirit of self=denying service by which alone they may have true authority amongst thy people, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

What does it mean to be considered a child of God? And to be a disciple of God.

Many times, in life, we grow up thinking that our heritage is what defines us and makes us who we are.  We look at our surname and think it is how we identify.  That our surname, if well known in the local community, is all we need to get through life.   The history of my father is … and his father is … and so, due to my family tree I should be seen as …. And that’s partly correct for some things in life.

And I believe that is what we see here in our text today.  The Jewish people in our text for today believed that since they were of the lineage of Abraham, they automatically were children of God. There was nothing that they had to do in life to secure their place at God’s table.  But in the beginning of this text Jesus says “…If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (vs 31,32)

What the people of the text failed to see was that if they continued to live a life focused on their heritage and where they came from and not look at how they lived their daily lives and who they served they became slaves to the sins of the world.  

Like them, we too must focus on who we serve and who we become a slave to.  It is so easy to get caught up in the activities that we see happening in the world around us.  And yes we need to admit that sometimes we loose track of God and often put God on the backburner as we focus on what brings us joy and happiness from the world’s point of view.  When we do that, getting caught up in the world, we become slaves to the world because we have put our worldly and earthly ambitions before our godly ambitions, making us slaves of sin. Jesus says in verse 34; “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin”.  But when we look for the voice of God in everything we do and put God at the forefront of who we are and show we live our lives we are no longer slaves to the world, but servants of Christ.

Amen. 

Second Sunday of Lent is already upon us. Do you know where the word Lent comes from? In the old English world, the word “Lenten” meant “springtime”. And I think it is safe to say that, here in San Antonio, we are ready for some springtime! In Latin, Lent, however, means something altogether different. The word for this season is Quadragesima, denotes a season of preparation by fasting and prayer, to imitate the forty day example of Christ. A little historical fact, Lent used to begin on the first Sunday of Lent, also called Quadragesima Sunday after the Gospel reading for that weekend of Jesus fasting in the desert for forty days and ended as the Triduum began the evening of Holy Thursday. When we count the days from the first Sunday of Lent to Holy Thursday, it adds up to forty, including the Sundays. Over time, however, there was a discussion that the Sundays during Lent should not be fast days. When asked about fasting on the Sundays during Lent, tradition says, Solemnities, even during the Season of Lent, ought to still be seen as a feast days. Sundays are considered Solemnities after all, are the Lord’s Day, and a day of rest. Beginning the count for Lent on the first Sunday of Lent, and Sundays are not followed as days for fasting, this would equal fewer than forty days of fasting before Easter. In order to make the forty days as Jesus did, they allowed the Sundays to be removed as days of fast and we now start Lenten fasting on Ash Wednesday and when you do the Catholic math it remains the traditional forty days.

I mention this little bit of history since the second Sunday of Lent is also a good time to check in with ourselves on how we are doing with our Lenten promises. Did we eat the Filet-O-Fish instead of the Big Mac on Friday? Inquiring minds want to know. And how are we doing with what we gave up for Lent for that matter? Was it chocolate, alcohol, whatever? You see, as lightweight as our Lenten practices seem to be nowadays, I think it is helpful to consider what Quadragesima would have been like if you lived in medieval times. St. Thomas Aquinas proposed that no food would be allowed at all on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On the other days of Lent, food would only be allowed after 3 PM (the hour of our Lord’s death on the cross). And, no animal flesh was allowed at all, neither were eggs or dairy, and Sundays were not free days from the fast either.  St. Thomas Aquinas believed in the most extreme fasting during Lent. I think for the people living in medieval times, the severity of this kind of fasting was meant to be life changing, life altering, helping Christians to embrace the seriousness of their baptismal identity as a People of God. Lent was supposed to be understood as a time for transformation. Someone who saw that kind of fast would certainly undergo a makeover by Easter Sunday, as well as their waist to say the least. I am not suggesting that we bring back that kind of Lenten fasting. Nevertheless, obviously though we see the season of Lent, the most important is the love we put into it in the first place.

If you think that fasting in medieval times was serious business, check out how covenants were made in the time of Abraham in our first reading from Genesis. Covenants were meant to be truly life-changing events as well. The Lord promises Abraham that his descendants would be like the number of stars in the heaven and offers the land before him as his possession.

Abraham wants to seal this deal and so God asks him to bring a three-year-old heifer, a three year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Genesis says, “Abram brought him all these, split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other”. You see, that’s how the deals were done in those days, you would meet among the split animals to make the agreement which was a way of indicating, if I break my word may what happened to these animals happen to me. These kinds of covenants in those days were meant to be life altering events that helped move a person or tribe from one reality to a new reality based upon the agreement being made. These covenants were meant to be truly transformative. As we know, the Chosen People in the Old Testament broke one covenant after the other with God, which makes Jesus’ choice to die on the cross in atonement for our sins all the more remarkable.

All of these observations are meant to help us understand our Gospel reading from St. Luke about the transfiguration of Jesus. Here we are on Mount Tabor, Jesus is transfigured before Peter, John and James, foreshadowing the glory of the resurrection. Jesus is also seen conversing with Moses and Elijah, signifying to the disciples that Jesus is the fulfillment of both the Law and the Prophets. However, there’s something really unique about St. Luke’s version of the transfiguration. You see, in Luke’s Gospel it says, “And behold, two men were conversing with [Jesus], Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to conduct in Jerusalem.” The reference to exodus here is unique to St. Luke’s Gospel and is meant to help us connect the exodus of the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land, to what Jesus conducts for us by his passion, death and resurrection. You see the exodus from Egypt was a transformative event for the Chosen People. They went from a state of being slaves to inheriting the land God promised to Abraham. The process for that transformation took the Hebrews a lot longer than forty days. It took forty years for that transformation to unfold, and it took centuries more before God was ready to offer a new exodus to the human race through his only Son our Lord.

This new exodus presented to us, through the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, offers us a path from the tyranny of sin and death to the glory of the resurrection and eternal life with God. This ultimate transformation that Christians seek is what St. Paul is referring to in our second reading from Philippians when he says, “Brothers and sisters: Our citizenship is in heaven”. Think about how radical St. Paul’s message is, “Our citizenship is heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our humble body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into obedience to himself.” (“Philippians 3:21)

My family, the second Sunday of Lent invites us to accept this season as time for a radical change. Our Lenten rituals of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are meant to help us with this while we make our pilgrimage to Holy Week. We can ask ourselves this week, what areas in my life need radical transformation? In what ways can I allow this season of Lent to transform my heart to be more like Jesus? These are good questions to ask as we continue our pilgrimage into the desert with our Lord. During this season of Lent, the level of transformation God will bless us with will depend largely on our response.

What kind of things do you enjoy? Everyone will have things that come to mind in answer to that question, but I suspect for most of us they will be experiences of some kind or other which make us feel good, from playing sport to reading books to seeing our family happily spending time together. That is the primary meaning of enjoyment, and it’s not surprising that those are the kinds of answers we give. It’s what makes some of the other senses of ‘enjoyment’ sound a bit strange. After all, we can talk about enjoying good health, or even enjoying someone’s 50^th Wedding Anniversary, where it’s clear we’re not talking about an emotional response to pleasant experiences.

 We wouldn’t describe our attitude to the second situation as one of joy – perhaps quiet contentment at best – but then, maybe that’s because, in the grand scheme of things, we have not lived the trials and the joys and disappointments in a long marriage. What these different senses of enjoyment can provide us with, however, is that the meaning of joy is connected to our response to something good that is present.

Thus, in today’s first reading, Zephaniah calls on the daughter of Zion to shout for joy because ‘the Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst’ (Zeph 3:15). It is the news of God’s present amongst his people that is to be for them the source of joy. In the responsorial “psalm” too (in fact, a passage from the prophet Isaiah), the people of Zion are to ‘sing and shout for joy, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel’ (Is 12:6).

The question that springs to mind is why joy at God’s presence should be the theme of the liturgy of this Third Sunday of Advent, or Gaudete (‘Rejoice’) Sunday, as it’s known. Of course, from the perspective of 2024 we know that the Incarnation, God’s coming to dwell among us, is something that has already happened, but isn’t Advent meant to be a time of anticipation, of learning that longing for the Messiah before we get to celebrate the fulfilment of that longing at Christmas? Wouldn’t hope – our attitude to a good which we do not yet enjoy – be a more obvious theme for this season?

A first answer might be that these passages of Scripture speaking of joy at God’s presence among his people are both from the Old Testament. In the case of Isaiah, the words form part of a prophecy: they are what the people ‘will say in that day’ (Is 12:3) when the shoot comes forth from the stock of Jesse (cf. Is 11:1). The words of Zephaniah come amid his prophecy of the day of the Lord. As we prepare to celebrate that day when the Word of God took flesh and dwelt amongst us, we call to mind the joy which the prophets foretold with anticipation as the response of God’s people to his coming to redeem them.

More than simply preparing us for Christmas, though, Advent also reminds us of the in-between situation we find ourselves in, after Christ’s first coming but awaiting his second coming, redeemed by his saving Incarnation, Death and Resurrection, but awaiting the full working out of all that that entails for humanity and for the whole of creation. We rejoice at his presence in the Sacraments and in the Holy Spirit given to the Church, even as we wait and hope to hear those words, ‘well done, good and faithful servant … enter into the joy of your master’ (Mt 25:21). In the reading we heard from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he instructs them always to rejoice even as he reminds them the Lord is at hand (Phil 4:4,5). It is what God has already given to us, what already now we can rejoice in, that enables us to prepare with hope for that day on which, as St John the Baptist’s words in the Gospel remind us, he will ‘gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out’ (Lk 3:17).

On this Sunday, when the priest’s rose-colored vestments mix the darkness of penitential purple with festive white, that color expresses the joy which is already ours even as we still recognize the struggles and fears of this life in anticipation of that fullness of joy which God’s coming among us teaches to await ‘with blessed hope’ (Titus 2:13).

Today we come together as the church to commemorate St. Luke the Evangelist, Patron saint of Physicians. Luke, from his perspective, records for us in his Gospel writings, the life of Jesus=from His birth at Bethlehem, through His ministry and His many healings. How Jesus heals the blind, the deaf, and the lame.

Luke tells us of the peace which Jesus speaks to all, because Jesus is indeed the peace and healing of God, then in human form. That is why in Luke 10, Jesus tells the 72, to say, “Peace be with this house”, as he sends them out as apostles of his peace.

Jesus gives us spiritual healing and peace which forgives our sins, and which reconciles us with God, our Heavenly Father, by His death upon the cross for us.

Jesus is truly the physician of our Soul. He knows all too well, that we are sick with sin, but it deters him not. Each and every one of us, is precisely why He came to earth to be amongst us, the reason he lived with us upon the earth, and why he suffered, bled, was tortured, and died for all our sakes.

Jesus came down from Heaven to our world, to take from us our dark sickness of sin and of death, and to heal us, to bring us true life and salvation. He took all upon himself for us upon the cross, our sickness and death, died with the Lord, to all who truly believe, love and follow Him. We are forgiven, we are healed, we are saved, we are at peace.

If we truly examine our lives, we will see our constant need for healing of the sins of this world. As with the body, if we are sick, we see our dr for diagnosis and treatment, that’s why today, we give thanks to God for His servant, Luke, the Evangelist. It’s Luke’s role to bring Jesus, His healing and peace to each of us through the living and active word of God.

The word of God is the scalpel of Jesus our physician and saviour. With total precision, Jesus’ laws cuts us and ‘kills’ the sickness of the human condition, so that he can heal us, and give us true life.

Each of the commandments of Jesus is a precise incision of his law. We have failed to fear, love, and trust God above all else as we ought to do. We have failed to use God’s name as we should, and to call upon him as our Father, as his children when in every trouble or need, or to give him worthy thanks and praise. We have ignored God’s Holy word and preaching, we have not loved our neighbour, or helped to eased their needs. We have been bad stewards of earthly material things such as money, or possessions. We have failed in giving kindness and forgiveness to our brothers and sisters.

So indeed, our human sickness of sin is dire=without Jesus as our Lord, our Saviour, and physician, the diagnosis is terminal.

But Jesus is merciful, he does not delight in punishment. Jesus our physician of our soul, cuts with His law in order to heal us with His Gospel. The Lord heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds (PS 147:3). Jesus has kept on our behalf, all those commandments, which we have failed to truly follow.

If we want to call our doctor, we pick up the phone, and wait for an appointment to become available. But Jesus as our physician for our souls, is contactable 24 hrs per day, every single day with no exception. He is contactable easily anytime, day or night, by the important communication of prayer.

So let’s end today with the simplest but most important prayer of all, to our Saviour and physician of our soul:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,  have mercy on me, a sinner.

Amen.

“Always remember that God only makes happy endings. If it’s not happy, then it’s not yet the end. Live by love and hope. There is always something to look forward.“ This quote stands pinned on my IG profile and likewise it is the first post in it. Once when I randomly saw this quote I was impressed and I identified my own beliefs with it. So, I decided to save it, post it and pin it in order to see it often. I always tried to think positive and always tried to keep my faith in positive income of every life circumstance. As we often have bad days or negative situations. Somewhere I learnt how good way to go thought them is in changing our own approach and the way see them. So, I started to believe that everything happens with a reason. Everything is there with its purpose and sometimes bad experiences were only signs to lead us to a better place. Or they were just lessons that we had to learn.

Today we read John 1/1-5. This is yet another quote that I use as my Life motto “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Alpha and Omega is God – the beginning and the end. As we know that God is light we could rest assured that light is eternal beginning and eternal end. Darkness is temporal. Darkness has its expiry moment it is not eternal. Same applies to everything negative that is going on in this world and in our lives. Modern psychology teaches us about the importance of positive attitude. This is beautiful but it is even more beautiful when we read about positive attitude in the Bible. Indirectly, through meditation and prayer.

When I moved to Germany I experienced many difficulties. I had problem to find a suitable job. And the job I was doing was very hard. I had struggles to learn the language and I had many temptations. Luckily I found there Church of Christ the King. And in all my struggles going to the church and attending the liturgy was helping me to overcome those difficulties. After several months God served in front of my eyes a happy ending. I learnt the language to intermediate level and I found a job that I loved. A couple of years ago I had similar experience. I was struggling for many months and wasted lot of energy trying to do jobs I was not happy with and at last I found a company where I was happy and I stayed within until I decided to move to Germany.

There is a popular singer song saying “All the world is a stage and everyone has their part.” Sometimes the story goes that our role is to be heartbroken and that’s how the show goes. But at the end applause and the light will be what we finally receive. Along with the applause curtains fall down and the entire theater is filled with the light. Remember our life is as a theater and God gives us roles to play. But no matter what role we play, a happy or a sad story it always starts with the light and it always ends with the light. Just like in the theater. As it is written in today’s Gospel – the light shines with the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

A Reading from the Second Chapter of the Holy Gospel According to Luke:

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.