James Chisholm

My child, when you are ill, do not delay,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.

Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,
and cleanse your heart from all sin.

Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of choice flour,
and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.

Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;
do not let him leave you, for you need him.

There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,
for they too pray to the Lord

that he will grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.

He who sins against his Maker
will be defiant towards the physician.

My child, let your tears fall for the dead,
and as one in great pain begin the lament.

Lay out the body with due ceremony,
and do not neglect the burial.

Let your weeping be bitter and your wailing fervent;
make your mourning worthy of the departed,

for one day, or two, to avoid criticism;
then be comforted for your grief.

5 The Lord watches over the innocent; *
I was brought very low, and he helped me.

6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul, *
for the Lord has treated you well.

7 For you have rescued my life from death, *
my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.

8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord *
in the land of the living.

9 I believed, even when I said,
"I have been brought very low." *
In my distress I said, "No one can be trusted."

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birthpangs.”