A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark1:1-8
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;/ he will prepare your way./ A voice of one crying out in the desert:/ “Prepare the way of the Lord,/ make straight his paths.”
John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of…
sexual immorality
idolatry and witchcraft
adultery
homosexual offenders
thieves
greed
drunkards
slanderers
swindlers
impurity and debauchery
idolatry and witchcraft
hatred
discord
jealousy
fits of rage
selfish ambition
dissensions
factions and envy
drunkenness, orgies, and the like
any kind of impurity
obscenity
foolish talk
coarse joking
obsession / idolotry
must not be even a hint of any these
(separation and alienation from God) sin.
People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Gospel of the Lord.