RELIGION AND ART

A PRAYER FOR HELP PSALM 86 Listen to me, LORD, and answer me, for I am helpless and weak. Save me from death, because I am loyal to you, save me, for I am loyal to you; save me, for I am your and I trust in you.   You are my God, so be merciful to me; I pray to you all day long. Make your servant glad, O LORD, because my prayers go up to you. You are good to us and forgiving, full of constant love for all who pray to you. Listen, LORD, to my prayer, hear my cries for help, I call to you in times of trouble, because you answer my prayers. There is no god like you, O LORD, not one has done what you have done. All the nations that you have created will come and bow down to you; They will praise your greatness. You are mighty and do wonderful things; you alone are God. Teach me, LORD, what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully, teach me to serve you with complete devotion. I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God: ...

Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18 © Only pass judgement on your neighbour according to justice The Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ‘Speak to the whole community of the sons of Israel and say to them:    ‘“Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.   ‘“You must not steal nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbour. You must not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord. You must not exploit or rob your neighbour. You must not keep back the labourer’s wage until next morning. You must not curse the dumb, nor put an obstacle in the blind man’s way, but you must fear your God. I am the Lord.   ‘“You must not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the little man nor overawed by the great; you must pass judgement on your neighbour according to justice. You must not slander your own people, and you must not jeopardise your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord. You must not bear hatred for your...

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