And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom,

And saith to him: Every man at first setteth forth good wine; and when men have well drank, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee: and he manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.(St. John ii.)

After this beautiful miracle, Our Lord went for the first time to Capharnaum, where He afterwards lived so much; His Blessed Mother, and His cousins, the sons and daughters of Cleophas and Mary, the sister of Our Lady, went with Him; these cousins, of whom St. James the Less was one, are always called in Scripture, the brothers, or brethren, of the Lord, according to the Jewish custom.

From Capernaum, Our Lord went up to the Feast of the

Pasch, at Jerusalem, when He turned the money-changers out of the Temple. There He began to preach, and when the Jews asked Him to give a sign, or pledge, that He was really the Messias, He gave them one of His resurrection, which they did not understand. He did this to teach us that mere inquiry into the truths of the Faith, is not enough. There must be a disposition to obey, and a will to believe, or the grace of faith will not be given.

After this He went down to Capharnaum, He and His Mother and His brethren, and His disciples: and they remained there not many days.

And the Pasch of the Jews was at hand: and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

And He found in the Temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.

And when He had made as it were a scourge of little cords, He drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen: and He poured out the changers' money; and the tables He overthrew.

And He said to them that sold doves: Take these things hence; and make not the House of My Father a house of traffic. And His disciples remembered that it was written: The zeal of My House hath eaten Me up.

Then the Jews answered, and said to Him: What sign dost Thou show us, seeing Thou dost these things?

Jesus answered, and said to them: Destroy this Temple; and in three days I will raise it

up.

The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this Temple in building; and wilt Thou raise it up in three days?

But He spoke of the Temple of His Body.

When therefore He was risen again from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this: and they believed the Scripture, and the word that Jesus had said.

Now when He was at Jerusalem, at the Pasch, upon the festival day, many believed in His Name, seeing His miracles which He did.

But Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all men,

And because He needed not that any should give testimony of man: for He knew what was in man.- -(St. John ii.)

While Our Lord was at Jerusalem, a learned Pharisee came to consult Him. The Pharisees were a sect of Jews, who professed a great reverence for the Law of Moses, and were very learned in expounding it to the people. They wore on their cloaks strips of parchment, on which were written, or embroidered, texts of the Old Scriptures; and often stood in the squares and streets, praying aloud, to make the people think they were very holy. They often on this account received rich gifts and legacies. Nicodemus was sincere in his wish to know whether Our Lord was really the Messias; but as he was timid, and touched with human respect, dared not visit Him until it was dark, lest some of the other Pharisees should know of it. Our Lord instructed him upon the future necessity of a new heart, or the life of grace which should be bestowed hereafter by the Sacrament of Baptism; and also upon His own future death, or being lifted up upon the Cross for the redemption of man. When, three years later, He had suffered the Passion and Death of which He spoke, and was about to be laid in His "new sepulchre," Nicodemus came fearlessly, and brought rich spices to embalm His Sacred Body.

And there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night, and said to Him: Rabbi, we know that Thou art come a Teacher from God: for no man can do these miracles which Thou dost, unless God was with him.

Jesus answered, and said to him: Amen; I say to thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith to Him: How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born again?

Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.

Wonder not that I said to thee, you must be born again.

The Spirit breatheth where He will: and thou hearest His Voice; but thou knowest not whence He cometh, nor whither He goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered, and said to Him: How can these things be done?

Jesus answered, and said unto him: Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Amen, amen, I say to thee: We speak what We know, and We testify what We have seen; and you receive not Our testimony.

If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not, how will you believe if I shall speak to you Heavenly things? And no man hath ascended into Heaven, but He that descended from Heaven, the Son of Man, Who is in Heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted

up:

That whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

For God so loved the world, as to give His Only Begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him.

He that believeth in Him is not judged: but he that doth not believe is already judged: because he believeth not in the Name of the Only Begotten Son of God.

And this is the judgment: because the Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light: for their works were evil.

For every one that doeth evil, hateth the Light, and cometh not to the Light, that his works may not be reproved.

But he that doeth truth, cometh to the Light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God.-(St. John iii.)

About this time, the disciples of Our Lord and of St. John the Baptist, began to dispute which was the greater. St. John explained to them that his baptism did not confer grace as that

of Our Lord was hereafter to do, that he was only sent to prepare men for the coming and doctrine of Christ. He most beautifully calls himself the "friend of the Bridegroom," who shares His joy; and in that one sentence,"He must increase, but I must decrease," shows us in what all holiness consists. Inasmuch as our own nature and self-love and passions die, so does the love of Christ increase and spread in our souls. By this sentence we ought continually to test and measure our thoughts, words, and actions.

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea and there He abode with them, and baptized.

And John also was baptizing in Ennon near Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

For John was not yet cast into prison.

And there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews, concerning purification.

And they came to John, and said to him: Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to Whom thou givest testimony, behold, he baptizeth, and all men come to Him.

John answered and said: A man cannot receive anything except it be given him from Heaven.

You yourselves do bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.

He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy, therefore, is fulfilled.

He must increase; but I must decrease.

He that cometh from above, is above all. He that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh. He that cometh from Heaven, is above all.

And what he hath seen, and heard, that he testifieth: and no man receiveth his testimony.

He that hath received his testimony, hath attested by his seal that God is true.

For He whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: for God doth not give the Spirit by measure,