RELIGION AND ART

'Let him who is wise understand these things' First  Reading Hosea 14:2-10  A call to conversion and promise of safety Thus says the Lord: Return, o Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord. Say to him, Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls. Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount. We shall say no more, ‘Our god’, to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion». I will heal their defection, says the Lord, «I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; he shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; they shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be...

Week 4 of  Lent   “ Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths.” First Reading 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. 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 t...

MONDAY WEEK 2 OF LENT ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.' First Reading Daniel 9:4-10  Yours is the integrity, Lord; ours the shame O Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness for those who love you and keep your commandments: we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and your ordinances and turned away from them. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. Integrity, Lord, is yours; ours the look of shame we wear today, we, the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every country to which you have dispersed us because of the treason we have committed against you. To us, Lord, the look of shame belongs, to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God mercy and pardon belong, beca...

2nd Sunday of Lent ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’  First Reading Genesis 12:1-4  All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.  ‘I will bless those who bless you:  I will curse those who slight you.  All the tribes of the earth  shall bless themselves by you.’ So Abram went as the Lord told him. Responsorial Psalm:  May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you. Second Reading 2 Timothy 1:8-10  God calls and enlightens us With me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but for his own purpose and by his own grace. This grace h...

'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you' First Reading Deuteronomy 26:16-19  You will be a people consecrated to the Lord Moses said to the people: ‘The Lord your God today commands you to observe these laws and customs; you must keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.  ‘You have today made this declaration about the Lord: that he will be your God, but only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and listen to his voice. And the Lord has today made this declaration about you: that you will be his very own people as he promised you, but only if you keep all his commandments; then for praise and renown and honour he will set you high above all the nations he has made, and you will be a people consecrated to the Lord, as he promised.’ Responsorial Psalm:  They are happy who follow God’s law! Gospel  Matthew 5:43-48  Pray for those who persecute you Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You ha...

First Reading Ezekiel 18:21-28  I prefer to see the wicked man renounce his wickedness and live Thus says the Lord: ‘If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised. What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live? ‘But if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practises every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has practised shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die. But you object, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright ma...

 ' Ask, and it will be given to you' Reading Esther 12, 14-16, 23-25  I am alone, Lord, and have no-one but you Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the Lord. She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids, from morning until evening, and said:  «God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you, for I am taking my life in my hand. As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers that you, o Lord, always free those who are pleasing to you.  Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you, o Lord, my God. And now, come to help me, an orphan. Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy, so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.  Save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness». Responsorial Psalm: Lord, on the day...