Then his disciples approached and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He replied, "To you has been granted knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. As for the one who does not have, even what little he has will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that they see but do not perceive and they listen but do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed hear but not understand, you will indeed look but never see. For this people’s heart has become hardened; they have stopped up their ears and they have shut their eyes, so that they might not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and then turn to me, and I would heal them.’
"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb. Therefore, she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him."
Mary Magdalene remained weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting there where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. They asked her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She answered, "They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him."
As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have removed him, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means "Teacher").
Jesus then said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’" Mary Magdalene then went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and repeated what he had said to her.
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the side of the lake. However, such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables.
He said: "A sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. They sprouted quickly, since the soil had very little depth, but when the sun rose they were scorched, and since they lacked roots, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. But some seeds fell on rich soil and produced a crop—some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear!"
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."
At the end of its second General Assembly, held from 15 to 18 October 2024, the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace sent a message to government officials at all levels, as well as to all Malagasy and all people of goodwill.
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