RELIGION AND ART

WEDNESDAY WEEK 22 IN ORDINARY TIME: HE WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO SPEAK: THEY KNEW HE WAS THE CHRIST Reading 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Neither the planter nor the waterer matters,  only God, who makes things grow Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still unspiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’?  After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the w...

TUESDAY WEEK 22 IN ORDIARY TIME Reading 1 Corinthians 2:10-16  The Spirit reaches even the depths of God The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything, and his own value is not to be judged by other men. As scripture says:  Who can...

MONDAY WEEK 22 IN ORDINARY TIME Reading Jeremiah : 17-19 You tell them all I command you;  do not be dismayed at their presence   The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying: ‘Brace yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you. Do not be dismayed at their presence, or in their presence I will make you dismayed. ‘I, for my part, today will make you into a fortified city, a pillar of iron, and a wall of bronze to confront all this land: the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests and the country people.  They will fight against you but shall not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you, – it is the Lord who speaks.’ Your Birthday Feast: The Beheading of John the Baptist . May today’s Feast blessings be yours as you celebrate your birthday.    Pray the Holy Rosary: Hail Mary. Hail Holy Queen Lord Jesus Christ I trust in you. Blessed  Virgin Mary pray for me. Saint Joseph pray for me. God's Holy Angels and Saints pray f...

22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C Reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21,30-31 Behave humbly, and you will find favour with the Lord My son, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver.  The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord; for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble. There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him. The heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables,  an attentive ear is the sage’s dream. Readinsgs Reflections Pray the Holy Rosary: Hail Mary. Hail Holy Queen Lord Jesus Christ I trust in you. Blessed  Virgin Mary pray for me. Saint Joseph pray for me. God's Holy Angels and Saints pray for me. My Angel Guardian pray for me. Defend and protect me. Guide and guard me. Your Birthday Saint:  Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop . May he pray for you as you ce...

SATURDAY WEEK 21 ORDINARY TIME YEAR C First Reading 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, to shame the wise Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything. The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says:  if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord. Readings Reflection Gospel Matthew 25:14-30 You have been faithful in small th...

FRIDAY WEEK 21 ORDINARY TIME Reading Corinthians 1:17-25  We preach a crucified Christ, the power and wisdom of God Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed. The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save. As scripture says:  I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned. Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes?  Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom? If it was God’s wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach. And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a cru...

THURSDAY WEEK 21 ORDINARY TIME YEAR C First Reading 1 Corinthians 1:1-9  You have been enriched in many ways in Christ I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace. Readings   Reflections I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and preachers; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because ...

WEDNESDAY WEEK 21 IN ORDINARY TIME  First Reading Apocalypse 21:9-14 He showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven The angel came to speak to me, and said, ‘Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’ In the spirit, he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Readings   Reflection Gospel John 1:45-51 You will see heaven laid o...

TUESDAY WEEK 21 ORDINARY TIME First Reading  2 Thessalonians 2:1-3,14-17 Stand firm and keep the traditions we have taught you To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in this way. Readings Reflections Through the Good News that we brought God called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say. Gospel Matthew 23:23-26 Clean the inside of the cup first, so that the outside m...

MONDAY WEEK 21 ORDINARY TIME  Reading Isaiah 9:1-7 A Son is given to us The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.   For the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his oppressor,  these you break as on the day of Midian. For all the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood, is burnt, and consumed by fire. Readings Reflections   For there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.  Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end, for the throne of David and for his royal power,  which he establishes and makes secu...

21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C First Reading Isaiah 66:18-21  They will bring all your brothers from all the nations The Lord says this: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations. As an offering to the Lord they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says the Lord, like Israelites bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of the Lord. And of some of them I will make priests and Levites, says the Lord. Readings Reflections   Second Reading  Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13  The Lord trains the one he loves Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as ...

SATURDAY WEEK 20 IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C First Reading Ezekiel 43:1-7  The vision of the coming of the glory of the Lord to the Temple The angel took me to the gate, the one facing east. I saw the glory of the God of Israel approaching from the east. A sound came with it, like the sound of the ocean, and the earth shone with his glory. This vision was like the one I had seen when I had come for the destruction of the city, and like the one I had seen on the bank of the river Chebar. Then I prostrated myself. Readings Reflections The glory of the Lord arrived at the Temple by the east gate. The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; I saw the glory of the Lord fill the Temple. And I heard someone speaking to me from the Temple while the man stood beside me. The voice said, ‘Son of man, this is the dais of my throne, the step on which I rest my feet. I shall live here among the sons of Israel for ever.’ Gospel Matthew 23:1-12   They do not practise what t...

FRIDAY WEEK 20 ORDINARY TIME YEAR C YOU MUST LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART Reading from Prophet Ezekiel 37:1-14   A vision of Israel's death and resurrection The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘You know, Lord.’ He said, ‘Prophesy over these bones. Say, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord.”’ I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clatter...

THURSDAY WEEK 20 YEAR C Reading from Prophet Ezekiel 36:23-28 I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord – it is the Lord who speaks – when I display my holiness for your sake before their eyes. Then I am going to take you from among the nations and gather you together from all the foreign countries, and bring you home to your own land. I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land which I gave...

WENESDAY WEEK 20 ORDINARY TIME YEAR C Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel 34:1-11  I shall rescue my sheep from their mouths; they will not prey on them any more The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them:  Readings Reflections ‘“Shepherds, the Lord says this: Trouble for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shepherds ought to feed their flock, yet you have fed on milk, you have dressed yourselves in wool, you have sacrificed the fattest sheep, but failed to feed the flock. You have failed to make weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick ones, or bandage the wounded ones. You have failed to bring back strays or look for the lost. On the contrary, you have ruled them cruelly and violently. For lack of a shepherd they have scattered, to become the prey of any wild animal; they have scattered far. My flock is straying this way and that, on mountains and on high hills; my flock has be...