RELIGION AND ART

MONDAY WEEK 26 ORDINARY TIME  Reading Job 1:6-22 The Lord gave, the Lord has taken back: blessed be the name of the Lord One day the Sons of God came to attend on the Lord, and among them was Satan. So the Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Round the earth,’ he answered ‘roaming about.’ So the Lord asked him, ‘Did you notice my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth: a sound and honest man who fears God and shuns evil.’ ‘Yes,’ Satan said ‘but Job is not God-fearing for nothing, is he? Have you not put a wall round him and his house and all his domain? You have blessed all he undertakes, and his flocks throng the countryside. But stretch out your hand and lay a finger on his possessions: I warrant you, he will curse you to your face.’ ‘Very well,’ the Lord said to Satan ‘all he has is in your power. But keep your hands off his person.’ So Satan left the presence of the Lord....... Reading Reflection Gospel Luke 9:46-50 The least among you all is the greatest An...

26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  First Reading Amos 6:1,4-7 Woe to those who live in luxury The almighty Lord says this: Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria, those famous men of this first of nations to whom the House of Israel goes as client. Lying on ivory beds and sprawling on their divans, they dine on lambs from the flock, and stall-fattened veal; they bawl to the sound of the harp, they invent new instruments of music like David, they drink wine by the bowlful, and use the finest oil for anointing themselves,  but about the ruin of Joseph they do not care at all. That is why they will be the first to be exiled;  the sprawlers’ revelry is over. Readings Reflection   Second Reading 1 Tim. 6:11 -16 Do all that you have been told, until the Appearing of the Lord   Gospel Luke 16:19-31 “Remember that during your life good things came your way, just as bad things came the way of Lazarus… ” ...

SATURDAY WEEK 25 ORDINARY TIME Reading Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8 Remember your creator in the days of your youth   Rejoice in your youth, you who are young; let your heart give you joy in your young days. Follow the promptings of your heart and the desires of your eyes. But this you must know: for all these things God will bring you to judgement. Cast worry from your heart, shield your flesh from pain.  Yet youth, the age of dark hair, is vanity.  Reading Reflection   And remember your creator in the days of your youth, before evil days come and the years approach when you say, ‘These give me no pleasure’, before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;  the day when those who keep the house tremble and strong men are bowed; when the women grind no longer at the mill, because day is darkening at the windows and the street doors are shut; when the sound of the mill is faint, when the voice of the bird is silenced, and ...

FRIDAY WEEK 25 IN ORDINARY TIME Reading  Ecclesiastes 3:1-11   There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven: A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted.....  Reading Reflection Pray the Holy Rosary. Hail Mary. Ave Maria. Lord Jesus I trust in you. Saint Joseph pray for me. Saint Pius of Pietrelcina – Padre Pio pray for you as you celebrate your birthday today. Loving Father according to  Ecclesiastes 3:1-11......" What does a man gain for the efforts that he makes? I contemplate the task that God gives mankind to labour at. All that he does is apt for its time; but though he has permitted man to consider time in its wholeness, man cannot comprehend the work of God from beginning to end." Yes Father man can never understand the mystery of creation. All glory and adoration belong to you our God and Father.

THURSDAY WEEK 25 ORDINARY TIME Reading  Ecclesiastes 1:2-11  Nothing is new and all is vanity Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity! For all his toil, his toil under the sun, what does man gain by it?  A generation goes, a generation comes, yet the earth stands firm for ever. The sun rises, the sun sets; then to its place it speeds and there it rises. Southward goes the wind, then turns to the north; it turns and turns again; back then to its circling goes the wind. Into the sea all the rivers go, and yet the sea is never filled, and still to their goal the rivers go. All things are wearisome. No man can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fill of hearing. What was will be again; what has been done will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. Take anything of which it may be said, ‘Look now, this is new.’ Already, long before our time, it existed. Only no memory remains of earlier times, just as in time...

WEDNESDAY WEEK 25 ORDINARY TIME Reading Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13 We are all to come to unity, fully mature in the knowledge of the Son of God I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all. Reading Reflection   Each one of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. To some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in ...

TUESDAY WEEK 25 ORDINARY TIME Reading Proverbs 21:1-6,10-13 On wickedness and virtue Like flowing water is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord, who turns it where he pleases.  A man’s conduct may strike him as upright, the Lord, however, weighs the heart. To act virtuously and with justice is more pleasing to the Lord than sacrifice. Haughty eye, proud heart, lamp of the wicked, nothing but sin. The hardworking man is thoughtful, and all is gain; too much haste, and all that comes of it is want. To make a fortune with the help of a lying tongue, such the idle fantasy of those who look for death. The wicked man’s soul is intent on evil, he looks on his neighbour with dislike. When a mocker is punished, the ignorant man grows wiser, when a wise man is instructed he acquires more knowledge. The Just One watches the house of the wicked:  he hurls the wicked to destruction. He who shuts his ear to the poor man’s cry shall himself plead and...

MONDAY 26 WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Reading Proverbs 3:27-34  The Lord blesses the home of the virtuous My son, do not refuse a kindness to anyone who begs it, if it is in your power to perform it. Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Go away! Come another time!  I will give it you tomorrow’, if you can do it now. Do not plot harm against your neighbor as he lives unsuspecting next door. Do not pick a groundless quarrel with a man who has done you no harm. Do not emulate the man of violence, never model your conduct on his; for the wilful wrong-doer is abhorrent to the Lord, who confides only in honest men. The Lord’s curse lies on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the virtuous. He mocks those who mock, but accords his favour to the humble. Reading Reflection Gospel Luke 8:16-18  Anyone who has will be given more Jesus said to the crowds: ‘No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No, he puts it on a lamp-stand so that people m...

25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME The Gospel Luke 16:1-13  You cannot be the slave of both God and money Jesus said to his disciples:  ‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”  Readings Reflection Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.” To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you...

SATURDAY WEEK 24 ORDINARY TIME   R eading 1 C orinthians 15:35-37,42-49  The resurrected body is heavenly by nature Someone may ask, ‘How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come back?’ They are stupid questions. Whatever you sow in the ground has to die before it is given new life and the thing that you sow is not what is going to come; you sow a bare grain, say of wheat or something like that. It is the same with the resurrection of the dead: the thing that is sown is perishable but what is raised is imperishable; the thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; the thing that is sown is weak but what is raised is powerful; when it is sown it embodies the soul, when it is raised it embodies the spirit.  If the soul has its own embodiment, so does the spirit have its own embodiment. The first man, Adam, as scripture says,  became a living soul;  but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. Tha...

FRIDAY WEEK 24 ORDINARYTIME Reading 1 Corinthians 15:12-20  If Christ has not been raised, your belief is useless Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself cannot have been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God, because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.  But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Readings Reflection Gospel...

THURSDAY WEEK 24 IN ORDINARY TIME: BEHOLD THY MOTHER Reading Hebrew 5:7-9  He learned to obey and he became the source of eternal salvation During his life on earth, Christ offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard. Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation. Readings Reflection Gospel John 19:25-27 'Woman, this is your son' Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home. Pray the Holy Rosary: Our Lady Queen of Sorrows pray for us. Ave Maria As we celeb...

WEDNESDAY WEEK 24 ORDINARY TIME: FEAST  OF THE EXALTATION OF THE CROSS God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven; and the Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.’  Readings Reflection Jesus Christ redeemed us by the Holy Cross as you celebrate your birthday today on the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross may the joy of today's feast be yours   Pray the Holy Rosary: Hail Mary. Hail Holy Queen our Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary. Thank you God our Father for you so loved the world t...

TUESDAY WEEK 24 ORDINARY TIME Gosple Luke 7:11-17  The only son of his mother, and she a widow Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople were with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.’ And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside. Reading Reflections God of universe your reign is Supreme. You are our Lord and God. Lord Jesus Christ you came to redeem humanity,...

MONDAY WEEK 24 ORDINARY TIME Reading 1 Corinthians 11:17-26,33 If each one hurries to be first,  it is not the Lord's Supper you are eating On the subject of instructions, I cannot say that you have done well in holding meetings that do you more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you all come together as a community, there are separate factions among you, and I half believe it – since there must no doubt be separate groups among you, to distinguish those who are to be trusted. The point is, when you hold these meetings, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you are eating, since when the time comes to eat, everyone is in such a hurry to start his own supper that one person goes hungry while another is getting drunk. Surely you have homes for eating and drinking in? Surely you have enough respect for the community of God not to make poor people embarrassed? What am I to say to you? Congratulate you? I cannot congratulate you on this.....  Reading Reflection G...

SUNDAY  WEEK 24 ORDINARY TIME YEAR C The Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened 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.’ 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? Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: “I will make your offspring as ...

SATURDAY WEEK 23 ORDINARY TIME Reading  1 Corinthians 10:14-22  We are a single body because we all share the one bread My dear brothers, you must keep clear of idolatry. I say to you as sensible people: judge for yourselves what I am saying. The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf. Look at the other Israel, the race, where those who eat the sacrifices are in communion with the altar.  Does this mean that the food sacrificed to idols has a real value, or that the idol itself is real? Not at all. It simply means that the sacrifices that they offer they sacrifice to demons who are not God. I have no desire to see you in communion with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take your share at th...

FRIDAY WEEK 23 ORDINARY TIME Reading 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27  We go into strict training, like fighters at the games I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me. Reading Reflection So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.  All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at t...

THURSDAY WEEK 23 ORDINARY TIME Reading Micah 5:1-4  He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord   The Lord says this: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old. The Lord is therefore going to abandon them till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers will come back to the sons of Israel. He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace. Readings Reflection Pray the Holy Rosary: Hail Mary. Hail Holy Queen. Ave Maria  Psalm  Your Birthday Feast: The Feast of the Nativity of  the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Jesus. Our Mother: May our Blessed  Mother pray for you as you celebrat...

WEDNESDAY WEEK 23 IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C Reading 1 Corinthians 7:25-31  The world as we know it is passing away About remaining celibate, I have no directions from the Lord but give my own opinion as one who, by the Lord’s mercy, has stayed faithful. Well then, I believe that in these present times of stress this is right: that it is good for a man to stay as he is. If you are tied to a wife, do not look for freedom; if you are free of a wife, then do not look for one. But if you marry, it is no sin, and it is not a sin for a young girl to get married. They will have their troubles, though, in their married life, and I should like to spare you that.  Brothers, this is what I mean: our time is growing short. Those who have wives should live as though they had none, and those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for; those who are enjoying life should live as though there were nothing to laugh about; those whose life is buying things should live as though t...