RELIGION AND ART

THURSDAY WEEK FOUR IN LENT YEAR C CHRIST CAME IN THE NAME OF GOD THE FATHER First Reading Exeodus 32:7-14  Moses pleads with the Lord his God to spare Israel Readings The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you, however, I will make a great nation.’ Lectures But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Why let the Egyptians say, “Ah, it was in treachery that he brought them out, t...

WEDNESDAY FORTH WEEK OF LENT YEAR C: I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU First Reading Isaiah 49:8-15 On the day of salvation I will help you Thus says the Lord:   At the favourable time I will answer you, on the day of salvation I will help you. (I have formed you and have appointed you as covenant of the people.) I will restore the land and assign you the estates that lie waste. I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ Readings On every roadway they will graze, and each bare height shall be their pasture. They will never hunger or thirst, scorching wind and sun shall never plague them; for he who pities them will lead them and guide them to springs of water. I will make a highway of all the mountains, and the high roads shall be banked up. Lectures Some are on their way from afar, others from the north and the west, others from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, you heavens; exult, you earth! You mountains, break into happy cries!...

TUESDAY WEEK FOUR IN LENT YEAR C DO YOU WANT TO BE WELL AGAIN? First Reading Ezekiel 47:1-9,12   Wherever the water flows, it will bring life and health The angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side. Lectures The man went to the east holding his measuring line and measured off a thousand cubits; he then made me wade across the stream; the water reached my ankles. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across the stream again; the water reached my knees. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across again; the water reached my waist. He measured off another thousand; it was now a river which I could not cross; the stream had s...

MONDAY WEEK FOUR IN LENT YEAR C:  YOUR SON WILL LIVE First Reading Isaiah 65:17-21 Readings Be glad and rejoice for ever at what I am creating Thus says the Lord: Now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness.’ I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people.  No more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her; in her, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be dying young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse. They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Lectures Responsorial Psalm:  I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me Gospel John 4:43-54 Go home: your son will live Jesus left Samaria for Gal...

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT  YEAR C   LAETARE SUNDAY :  I   HAVE SLAVED FOR YOU    First Reading  Joshua 5:9-12  The Israelites celebrate their first Passover in the Promised Land   The Lord said to Joshua: Readings ‘Today I have taken the shame of Egypt away from you.’  The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening in the plain of Jericho. On the morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn, that same day. From that time, from their first eating of the produce of that country, the manna stopped falling. And having manna no longer, the Israelites fed from that year onwards on what the land of Canaan yielded. Responsorial Psalm: Taste and see that the Lord is good Second Reading Second Corinthians 5:17-21  God reconciled himself to us through Christ For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation;...

SATURDAY THIRD WEEK IN LENT: LOVE NOT SACRIFICE First Reading Hosea 5: 15-6,6  What I want is love, not sacrifice and holocausts Readings The Lord says this: They will search for me in their misery.  ‘Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us;  he has struck us down, but he will bandage our wounds;  after a day or two he will bring us back to life,  on the third day he will raise us  and we shall live in his presence.  Let us set ourselves to know the Lord;  that he will come is as certain as the dawn his judgement will rise like the light,  he will come to us as showers come,  like spring rains watering the earth.’ Lectures What am I to do with you, Ephraim?  What am I to do with you, Judah?  This love of yours is like a morning cloud,  like the dew that quickly disappears.  This is why I have torn them to pieces by the prophets,  why I slaughtered them with the words f...

  First Reading Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10 The maiden is with child The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’   Then Isaiah said: ‘Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’   Second Reading Hebrew 10:4-10   God's will was for us to be made holy by the offering  of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.   Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins, and this is what Christ said, on coming into the world: You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me. Y...

THURSDAY WEEK THREE OF LENT First Reading(s) Jeremiah 7:23-28  Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God These were my orders: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper. But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me. From the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, day after day I have persistently sent you all my servants the prophets. Lectures But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have grown stubborn and behaved worse than their ancestors. You may say all these words to them: they will not listen to you; you may call them: they will not answer. So tell them this, “Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more, it has van...

Wednesday, Third Week of Lent: The law will achieve its purpose First Reading  Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9 .   Keep these laws and observe them Moses said to the people:  Readings   ‘Now, Israel, take notice of the laws and customs that I teach you today, and observe them, that you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land that the Lord the God of your fathers is giving you.  ‘See, as the Lord my God has commanded me, I teach you the laws and customs that you are to observe in the land you are to enter and make your own. Keep them, observe them, and they will demonstrate to the peoples your wisdom and understanding. When they come to know of all these laws they will exclaim, “No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation.” And indeed, what great nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? And what great nation is there that has laws and customs to match this whole Law that I put bef...

First Reading Daniel 3:25,34-43 Azariah stood in the heart of the fire, and he began to pray: Oh! Do not abandon us for ever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate your covenant,  do not withdraw your favour from us, for the sake of Abraham, your friend, of Isaac your servant, and of Israel your holy one, to whom you promised descendants as countless as the stars of heaven and as the grains of sand on the seashore. Lectures Lord, now we are the least of all the nations, now we are despised throughout the world, today, because of our sins. We have at this time no leader, no prophet, no prince, no holocaust, no sacrifice, no oblation, no incense, no place where we can offer you the first-fruits and win your favour. But may the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to you as holocausts of rams and bullocks, as thousands of fattened lambs: such let our sacrifice be to you today, and may it be your will that we follow you wholeheartedly, since those who put thei...