finding a church

²⁸Take care of yourselves and of the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has stationed you as Bishops to rule the Church of God, which he has purchased by his own blood.

¹⁴I am writing these things to you, with the hope that I will come to you soon. ¹⁵But, if I am delayed, you should know the manner in which it is necessary to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and the foundation of truth.

¹⁰And so, I beg you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that every one of you speak in the same way, and that there be no schisms among you. So may you become perfect, with the same mind and with the same judgment.

²⁵not deserting our assembly, as some are accustomed to do, but consoling one another, and even more so as you see that the day is approaching.

⁴⁷Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread which descends from heaven, so that if anyone will eat from it, he may not die.

⁵⁰This is the bread which descends from heaven, so that if anyone will eat from it, he may not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread, who descended from heaven. ⁵²If anyone eats from this bread, he shall live in eternity. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” ⁵³Therefore, the Jews debated among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵⁴And so, Jesus said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. ⁵⁵Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

¹⁴Those planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of the house of our God.

⁴⁷And my spirit leaps for joy in God my Savior. ⁴⁸For he has looked with favor on the humility of his handmaid. For behold, from this time, all generations shall call me blessed. ⁴⁹For he who is great has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

¹⁸For Christ also died once for our sins, the Just One on behalf of the unjust, so that he might offer us to God, having died, certainly, in the flesh, but having been enlivened by the Spirit. ¹⁹And in the Spirit, he preached to those who were in prison, going to those souls ²⁰who had been unbelieving in past times, while they waited for the patience of God, as in the days of Noah, when the ark was being built. In that ark, a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. ²¹And now you also are saved, in a similar manner, by baptism, not by the testimony of sordid flesh, but by the examination of a good conscience in God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. ²²He is at the right hand of God, devouring death, so that we may be made heirs to eternal life. And since he has journeyed to heaven, the Angels and powers and virtues are subject to him.

³⁸Yet truly, Peter said to them: “Do penance; and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

¹Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ. ²Now I praise you, brothers, because you are mindful of me in everything, in such a way as to hold to my precepts as I have handed them down to you.

⁶For he will render to each one according to his works: ⁷To those who, in accord with patient good works, seek glory and honor and incorruption, certainly, he will render eternal life. ⁸But to those who are contentious and who do not acquiesce to the truth, but instead trust in iniquity, he will render wrath and indignation.