RELIGION AND ART

Friday Week 18 in Ordinary Time 'Yes, the Lord is restoring the vineyard ' First Reading Nahum 3:1,3,3:1-3,6-7  Israel restored; Nineveh ruined  See, over the mountains the messenger hurries!  ‘Peace!’ he proclaims.  Judah, celebrate your feasts,  carry out your vows,  for Belial will never pass through you again;  he is utterly annihilated.  Yes, the Lord is restoring the vineyard of Jacob  and the vineyard of Israel.  For the plunderers had plundered them,  they had broken off their branches.   Woe to the city soaked in blood,  full of lies,  stuffed with booty,  whose plunderings know no end!  The crack of the whip!  The rumble of wheels!  Galloping horse,  jolting chariot,  charging cavalry,  flash of swords, gleam of spears...  a mass of wounded,  hosts of dead,  countless corpses;  they stumble over the dead.  I am going to pelt you with filth,...

‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’  First Reading Daniel 7:9-10,13-14  His robe was white as snow   As I watched: Thrones were set in place  and one of great age took his seat. His robe was white as snow, the hair of his head as pure as wool. His throne was a blaze of flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A stream of fire poured out, issuing from his presence. A thousand thousand waited on him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. A court was held and the books were opened.  I gazed into the visions of the night. And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man. He came to the one of great age and was led into his presence. On him was conferred sovereignty,  glory and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed. Responsorial Psalm:  The Lord is ...

Wednesday 18th ek in Ordinary Time ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ First Reading Jeremiah 31:1-7  You shall be rebuilt, virgin of Israel I will be the God of all the clans of Israel – it is the Lord who speaks – they shall be my people.  The Lord says this:  They have found pardon in the wilderness,  those who have survived the sword. Israel is marching to his rest.  The Lord has appeared to him from afar:  I have loved you with an everlasting love,  so I am constant in my affection for you.  I build you once more; you shall be rebuilt,  virgin of Israel. Adorned once more, and with your tambourines,  you will go out dancing gaily.  You will plant vineyards once more  on the mountains of Samaria  (the planters have done their planting:  they will gather the fruit).  Yes, a day will come when the watchmen shout  on the mountains of Ephraim,  ‘U...

Tuesday Week 18 : Saint John Vianney, Priest 'Any plant my Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots' First Reading Jeremiah 30:1-2,12-15,18-22  Your wound is incurable but I will heal you  The word addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord: the Lord, the God of Israel says this: Write all the words I have spoken to you in a book.  Yes, the Lord says this:  Your wound is incurable,  your injury past healing.  There is no one to care for your sore,  no medicine to make you well again.  All your lovers have forgotten you,  they look for you no more.  Yes, I have struck you as an enemy strikes,  with harsh punishment  so great is your guilt, so many your sins.  Why bother to complain about your wound?  Your pain is incurable.  So great is your guilt, so many your sins,  that I have done all this to you.  The Lord says this:  Now I will restore the tents of Jacob,  and take pity on his dwelli...

MONDAY 16 IN ORDINARY TIME:  ‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’   First Reading Jeremiah 28:1-17  Jeremiah and the lying prophet Hananiah At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, a Gibeonite, spoke as follows to Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people. ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says this, “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. In two years’ time I will bring back all the vessels of the Temple of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried off from this place and took to Babylon. And I will also bring back Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who have gone to Babylon – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, I am going to break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”’ The prophet Jeremiah then replied to the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people there in the...

18th Sunday in Ordinary Month: ' Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ' First Reading Isaiah 55:1- Come and eat Thus says the Lord:   Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread, your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live. With you I will make an everlasting covenant out of the favours promised to David. Responsorial Psalm: You open wide your hand, O Lord; you grant our desires. Second Reading Romans 8:35, 37-39 No created thing can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through...

Saint Alphonsus Mary de Ligouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church ‘It is against the Law for you to have her.’  First Reading Jeremiah 26:11-16,23  'This man has spoken to us in the name of the Lord' The priests and prophets addressed the officials and all the people, ‘This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.’ Jeremiah, however, replied to the people as follows:   ‘The Lord himself sent me to say all the things you have heard against this Temple and this city. So now amend your behaviour and actions, listen to the voice of the Lord your God: if you do, he will relent and not bring down on you the disaster he has pronounced against you. For myself, I am as you see in your hands. Do whatever you please or think right with me. But be sure of this, that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its citizens, since the Lord has truly sent me to you to say all...