RELIGION AND ART

RESPECT FOR SACREDNESS OF GOD'S VESSELS (We too are HIS vessels respect for human's life and dignity) Daniel 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28 © King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his noblemen; a thousand of them attended, and he drank wine in company with this thousand. As he sipped his wine, Belshazzar gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women could drink out of them. The gold and silver vessels looted from the sanctuary of the Temple of God in Jerusalem were brought in, and the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women drank out of them. They drank their wine and praised their gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone . Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared, and began to write on the plaster of the palace wall, directly behind the lamp-stand; and the king could see the...

Daniel 3:52-56 © You are blest, Lord God of our fathers.    To you glory and praise for evermore. Blest your glorious holy name.    To you glory and praise for evermore.   You are blest in the temple of your glory.    To you glory and praise for evermore. You are blest on the throne of your kingdom.    To you glory and praise for evermore.   You are blest who gaze into the depths.    To you glory and praise for evermore. You are blest in the firmament of heaven.    To you glory and praise for evermore.

Psalm 22(23):1-3a,5-6 © The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.   The Lord is my shepherd;   there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures   where he gives me repose.   Near restful waters he leads me,   to revive my drooping spirit. He guides me along the right path;   he is true to his name.   You have prepared a banquet for me   in the sight of my foes. My head you have anointed with oil;   my cup is overflowing.   Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me   all the days of my life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell   for ever and ever.    

GOD'S HOUSE AND ALTAR 1 Maccabees 4:36-37,52-59 © Judas and his brothers said, ‘Now that our enemies have been defeated, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and dedicate it.’ So they marshalled the whole army, and went up to Mount Zion.   On the twenty-fifth of the ninth month, Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight, they rose at dawn and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar of holocausts which they had made. The altar was dedicated, to the sound of zithers, harps and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on which the pagans had originally profaned it. The whole people fell prostrate in adoration, praising to the skies him who had made them so successful. For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar, joyfully offering holocausts, communion sacrifices and thanksgivings. They ornamented the front of the Temple with crowns and bosses of gold, repaired the gates and the storerooms and fitted them with doors. The...

SONGS OF JOY Psalm 126 When the Lord brought back the exiles of Sion, we thought we were dreaming. Then was our mouth filled with laughter; on our tongue, songs of joy. Then the nations themselves said, ''what great deeds the Lord worked for them!'' What great deeds the Lord worked for us! Indeed, we were glad. Bring back our exiles, O Lord, as streams in the south.  Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap. They go out, they go out, full of tears, bearing seed for the sowing; they come back, they come back with a song, bearing their sheaves.

YOUR TALENT Psalm 16(17):1,5-6,8,15 © I shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord. Lord, hear a cause that is just,   pay heed to my cry. Turn your ear to my prayer:   no deceit is on my lips.   I kept my feet firmly in your paths;   there was no faltering in my steps. I am here and I call, you will hear me, O God.   Turn your ear to me; hear my words.  Guard me as the apple of your eye.   Hide me in the shadow of your wings As for me, in my justice I shall see your face   and be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory.

PRAYER FOR PROTECTION How many are my foes, O Lord! How many are rising up against me! How many are saying about me:  ‘There is no help for him in God.’ But you, Lord, are a shield about me,  my glory, who lift up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord. He answers from his holy mountain. I lie down to rest and I sleep. I wake, for the Lord upholds me. I will not fear even thousands of people  who are ranged on every side against me. Psalm 3 psalm 27

Psalm 33 I will bless the LORD at all times, his praise always on my lips; in the Lord my soul shall makes its boast.  The humble shall hear and be glad. Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us praise his name. I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my terrors ye set me free. Look towards him and be radiant; let your face not be abashed.  This poor man called; the Lord heard him and rescued him from all his distress. The angel of the Lord is encamped around those who revere him, to rescue them. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

GOD'S GIFT Mathew 25:14-30 Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out. ‘The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ‘Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.” ‘His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; co...

WORD OF HOPE Our enemies have no reason to gloat over us. We have fallen, but we sill rise again. We are in darkness now, but the LORD will give us light. e have sinned against the LORD, so now we must endure has anger for a while. But in the end, he will defend us and right the wrongs that have been done to us. He will bring us out to the light; we will live to see him save us. Micah 7:8-9   At the Lamb's High Feast we Sing

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD Wisdom 13:1-9 Naturally stupid are all men who have not known God and who, from the good things that are seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is, or, by studying the works, have failed to recognise the Artificer. Fire however, or wind, or the swift air, the sphere of the stars, impetuous water, heaven’s lamps, are what they have held to be the gods who govern the world. If, charmed by their beauty, they have taken things for gods, let them know how much the Lord of these excels them, since the very Author of beauty has created them. And if they have been impressed by their power and energy, let them deduce from these how much mightier is he that has formed them, since through the grandeur and beauty of the creatures we may, by analogy, contemplate their Author. Small blame, however, attaches to these men, for perhaps they only go astray in their search for God and their eagerness to find him; living among his works,...

MYSTERY OF HUMAN HEART who can understand the human heart? There is nothing else so deceitful it is too sick to be healed. I, the LORD, search the minds and test the hearts of men. I treat each one according to the way he lives, according to what he does. The person who gets money dishonesty is lie a bird that hatches eggs it did'nt lay. In the prime of life he will lose his riches, and in the end he is nothing but a fool. Our Temple is like a glorious throne, standing on a high mountain from the beginning. LORD, you are our hope all who abandon you will be put to shame. They will disappear like names written in dust, because they have abandoned you, the LORD, the spring of fresh water.    Jeremiah 17:9-13

PRAYING FOR GOD’S WISDOM   God of my ancestors, merciful Lord, by your word you created all things. By your wisdom you created man to rule all creation, to govern the world with holiness and justice. Give me wisdom that sit beside your throne;   give me place among your children. I am your servant as my mother was, I am only human and weak, and my life will be short. I have little understanding of the Law or how to apply it.   Even if one is perfect, he will counted as nothing   without the wisdom that comes from you. Send her from your glorious throne, so that she may work at my side, that I may learn what pleases you. She knows and understand everything, and will guide me intelligently in what I do. Her glory will protect me, and my actions   will be acceptable to you.                    Wisdom 9