And they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love,

But we owe thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth,

The Elder, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth,

And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, Here are My mother and My brothers.

For whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven, that one is My brother and sister and mother.

For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.

Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour that disciple took her into his own home.

older women as mothers, younger ones as sisters, with all purity.