RELIGION AND ART

Tuesday Week Four in Ordinay Time “Who touched me?” First Reading  2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14, 24-25, 30-19:3  David mourns Absalom Absalom happened to run into some of David’s followers. Absalom was riding a mule and the mule passed under the thick branches of a great oak. Absalom’s head caught fast in the oak and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule he was riding went on. Someone saw this and told Joab. ‘I have just seen Absalom’ he said ‘hanging from an oak.’ Joab took three lances in his hand and thrust them into Absalom’s heart while he was still alive there in the oak tree. David was sitting between the two gates. The lookout had gone up to the roof of the gate, on the ramparts; he looked up and saw a man running all by himself. The watch called out to the king and told him. The king said, ‘If he is by himself, he has good news to tell.’ The king told the man, ‘Move aside and stand there.’ He moved aside and stood waiting. Then the Cushite arrived. ‘Go...

THE LORD'S PRESENTATION: 'My eyes have seen the Salvation' First Reading Malachi 3:1-4 The Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old. Responsorial Psalm:  Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory. Second Reading Hebrews 2:14-18  He took to himself descen...

4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR A God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise First Reading Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13  In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice, seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger. But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord: the remnant of Israel. They shall do no wrong and speak no lies; nor shall there be found in their mouths a deceitful tongue; they shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them. Responsorial Psalm:  Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs! Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, to shame the wise Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many wer...

“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” Saint John Bosco, Priest First Reading 2samuel 12:1-7a.10-17 David's penitence over Uriah The Lord sent Nathan to David, and when he came to him, Nathan said: «Judge this case for me! In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers. But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children. She shared the little food he had and drank from his cup and slept in his bosom. She was like a daughter to him. Now, the rich man received a visitor, but he would not take from his own flocks and herds to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him. Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and made a meal of it for his visitor». David grew very angry with that man and said to him: «As the Lord lives, the man who has done this merits death! He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold because he...

‘What can we say the kingdom of God is like?  First Reading 2 Samuel 11:1-4,5-10,13-17  David and Bathsheba At the turn of the year, the time when kings go campaigning, David sent Joab and with him his own guards and the whole of Israel. They massacred the Ammonites and laid siege to Rabbah. David, however, remained in Jerusalem. It happened towards evening when David had risen from his couch and was strolling on the palace roof, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David made inquiries about this woman and was told, ‘Why, that is Bathsheba, Eliam’s daughter, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ Then David sent messengers and had her brought. She came to him, and he slept with her. She then went home again. The woman conceived and sent word to David, ‘I am with child.’    Then David sent Joab a message, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite’, whereupon Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came into his presence, David asked after Joab and the arm...

‘Take notice of what you are hearing.  The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given' First Reading 2 Samuel 7:18-19,24-29  'The house of your servant will be blessed for ever' After Nathan had spoken to him, King David went in and, seated before the Lord, said: ‘Who am I, O Lord, and what is my House, that you have led me as far as this? Yet in your sight, O Lord, this is still not far enough, and you make your promises extend to the House of your servant for a far-distant future. You have constituted your people Israel to be your own people for ever; and you, Lord, have become their God. ‘Now, O Lord, always keep the promise you have made your servant and his House, and do as you have said. Your name will be exalted for ever and men will say, “The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel.” The House of your servant David will be made secure in your presence, since you yourself, Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, “I will build yo...

‘LISTEN, ANYONE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR!’ Saint Thomas of Aquinas. Priest and Doctor of the Church First Reading 2 Samuel 7:4-17  'Your house and sovereignty will stand secure' The word of the Lord came to Nathan:   ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I have never stayed in a house from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today, but have always led a wanderer’s life in a tent. In all my journeying with the whole people of Israel, did I say to any one of the judges of Israel, whom I had appointed as shepherds of Israel my people: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” This is what you must say to my servant David, “The Lord of Hosts says this: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will...