RELIGION AND ART

Wednesday, week 5 of Lent - “Who are you?” First  Reading  Numbers 21:4-9  If anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked up at the bronze serpent and lived The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt the land of Edom. On the way the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food.’ At this God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede for us with the Lord to save us from these serpents.’ Moses interceded for the people, and the Lord answered him, ‘Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.’ So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpen...

Monday, week 5 of Lent -  ‘I am innocent of this woman’s death!’ First Reading  Daniel 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62  Susanna and the elders In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim. He had married Susanna daughter of Hilkiah, a woman of great beauty; and she was God-fearing, because her parents were worthy people and had instructed their daughter in the Law of Moses. Joakim was a very rich man, and had a garden attached to his house; the Jews would often visit him since he was held in greater respect than any other man. Two elderly men had been selected from the people that year to act as judges. Of such the Lord said, ‘Wickedness has come to Babylon through the elders and judges posing as guides to the people.’ These men were often at Joakim’s house, and all who were engaged in litigation used to come to them. At midday, when everyone had gone, Susanna used to take a walk in her husband’s garden. The two elders, who used to watch her every day as she came in to take her wa...

5th Sunday of Lent  -   'If Christ is in you then your spirit is life' First Reading Ezekiel 37:12-14  I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks. Responsorial Psalm:  With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption. S econd Reading Romans 8:8-11  The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in ...

Saturday, week 4 of Lent -  ‘He is the Christ' First Reading Jeremiah 11:18-20  'Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten' The Lord revealed it to me; I was warned. O Lord, that was when you opened my eyes to their scheming. I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughter-house, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!’   But you, the Lord of Hosts, who pronounce a just sentence,  who probe the loins and heart,  let me see the vengeance you will take on them,  for I have committed my cause to you. Responsorial Psalm:  Lord God, I take refuge in you. Gospel John 7:40-52  The Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without hearing him Several people who had been listening to Jesus said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and...

Friday, week 4 of Lent 'Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?' First Reading Wisdom 2:1a.12-22  Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man and condemn him to a shameful death The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright:  «Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the Lord. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of h...

St. Joseph , the Husband of Blessed Virgin Mary- Solemnity His dynasty shall last for ever ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife' First Reading 2 Samuel 7:4-5,12-14,16  The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David The word of the Lord came to Nathan:   ‘Go and tell my servant David, Thus the Lord speaks: “When your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. (It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will make his royal throne secure for ever.) I will be a father to him and he a son to me. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’ Responsorial Psalm:  His dynasty shall last for ever Second Reading Romans 4:13,16-18,22  Abraham hoped, and he believed The promise of inheriting the world was not made to Abraham and his descendants on account of any ...