RELIGION AND ART

1 Samuel 17:32-33,37,40-51 © David said to Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’   ‘The Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you!’   He took his staff in his hand, picked five smooth stones from the river bed, put them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch, and with his sling in his hand he went to meet the Philistine. The Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of him, came nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I a dog for you to come against me with sticks?’ And the P...

O sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord all the earth. O sing to the Lord, bless his name Proclaim his help day by day, tell among the nations his glory and his wonders among all the peoples. Give the Lord, you families of peoples, give the Lord the glory and power, give the Lord the glory of his name. worship the Lord in his temple. O earth, tremble before him. Proclaim to the nations. God is King.  He will jue the peoples in fairness,  Psalm 95

 1 Samuel 15:22-23 Samuel replied: ‘Is the pleasure of the Lord in holocausts and sacrifices or in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Yes, obedience is better than sacrifice, submissiveness better than the fat of rams. Rebellion is a sin of sorcery, presumption a crime of teraphim.   GOOD MORNING

Psalm 88(89):16-19 © GOOD MORNING    I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord. Happy the people who acclaim such a king, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, who find their joy every day in your name, who make your justice the source of their bliss. For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength; by your favour it is that our might is exalted; for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord; our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel.

REDEEM US, O LORD, BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE.   Mark 1:40-45 © A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: ‘If you want to’ he said ‘you can cure me.’ Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. ‘Of course I want to!’ he said. ‘Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once and he was cured. Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, ‘Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.’ The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived. Even so, people from all around would come to him.   Liturgical Readings for Thursday

Psalm 39(40):2,5,7-10 ©  Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will. I waited, I waited for the Lord and he stooped down to me; he heard my cry. Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord and has not gone over to the rebels who follow false gods. ou do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim.  Instead, here am I. In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart. Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord.  Liturgical Readings of the day