RELIGION AND ART

Monday of Holy Week ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial' First Reading Isaiah 42:1-7  Here is my chosen one in whom my soul delights Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights.  I have endowed him with my spirit that he may bring true justice to the nations. He does not cry out or shout aloud, or make his voice heard in the streets. He does not break the crushed reed, nor quench the wavering flame.  Faithfully he brings true justice; he will neither waver, nor be crushed until true justice is established on earth, for the islands are awaiting his law. Thus says God, the Lord, he who created the heavens and spread them out, who gave shape to the earth and what comes from it, who gave breath to its people and life to the creatures that move in it: ‘I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right; I have taken you by the hand and formed you; I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light...

PALM SUNDAY -  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!   Gospel Matthew 21:1-11  Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village facing you, and immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her: untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them,” and he will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Sion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass.’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the ass and the colt, and put their garments on them, and he sat thereon. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread ...

Saturday, week 5 of Lent 'I t is better for one man to die for the people' First Reading Ezekiel 37:21-28  I will bring them home and make them one nation The Lord says this: ‘I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation in my own land and on the mountains of Israel, and one king is to be king of them all; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their filthy practices and all their sins. I shall rescue them from all the betrayals they have been guilty of; I shall cleanse them; they shall be my people and I will be their God. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all; they will follow my observances, respect my laws and practise them. They will live in the land that I gave my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors live...

Friday, week 5 of Lent 'The Father is in me and I am in the Father.’ First Reading Jeremiah 20:10-13 He has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men Jeremiah said: I hear so many disparaging me, ‘“Terror from every side!” Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All those who used to be my friends watched for my downfall, ‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error. Then we will master him and take our revenge!’ But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero; my opponents will stumble, mastered, confounded by their failure; everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs. But you, O Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice, who scrutinise the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you. Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men. Responsorial Psalm:  In my anguish I called to the Lord, and he heard my voice. Gospel John 10:21-42  They wanted to ...

Thursday week 5 of Lent ‘I tell you most solemnly, before Abraham ever was, I Am.’  First Reading Genesis 17:3-9  Abraham, the father of a multitude of nations Abram bowed to the ground and God said this to him, ‘Here now is my covenant with you: you shall become the father of a multitude of nations. You shall no longer be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I make you father of a multitude of nations. I will make you most fruitful. I will make you into nations, and your issue shall be kings. I will establish my Covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land you are living in, the whole land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity, and I will be your God.    ‘You on your part shall maintain my Covenant, yourself and your descendants after you, generation after generation.’ Re...

HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE 'I am the handmaid of the Lord' First Reading Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10  The maiden is with child The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’   Then Isaiah said:  ‘Listen now, House of David:  are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men  without trying the patience of my God, too?  The Lord himself, therefore,  will give you a sign.  It is this: the maiden is with child  and will soon give birth to a son  whom she will call Immanuel,  a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’ Responsorial Psalm:  Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will. Second Reading Hebrew 10:4-10  God's will was for us to be made holy  by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ . Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away si...

Wednesday, week 5 of Lent - “Who are you?” First  Reading  Numbers 21:4-9  If anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked up at the bronze serpent and lived The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt the land of Edom. On the way the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food.’ At this God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede for us with the Lord to save us from these serpents.’ Moses interceded for the people, and the Lord answered him, ‘Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.’ So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpen...