RELIGION AND ART

Mary's Birthday: The Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary First Reading Micah 5:1-4  He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord The Lord says this:  But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,  the least of the clans of Judah,  out of you will be born for me  the one who is to rule over Israel;  his origin goes back to the distant past,  to the days of old.  The Lord is therefore going to abandon them  till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.  Then the remnant of his brothers will come back, to the sons of Israel.  He will stand and feed his flock  with the power of the Lord,  with the majesty of the name of his God.  They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power  to the ends of the land., He himself will be peace. Gospel 1:1-16,18-23  The ancestry and conception of Jesus Christ A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:  Abraham was the father of Isaac...

Saturday Week 22 in Ordinary Time - Saint Teresa of Calcuta , Virgin 'What do you have that was not given to you?' First Reading 1 Corinthians 4:6-15  What do you have that was not given to you? Take Apollos and myself as an example and remember the maxim: ‘Keep to what is written.’ It is not for you, so full of your own importance, to go taking sides for one man against another. In any case, brother, has anybody given you some special right? What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given, how can you boast as though it were not? Is it that you have everything you want – that you are rich already, in possession of your kingdom, with us left outside? Indeed I wish you were really kings, and we could be kings with you! But instead, it seems to me, God has put us apostles at the end of his parade, with the men sentenced to death; it is true – we have been put on show in front of the whole universe, angels as well as men. Here we are, fools for the sake of Christ...

Friday Week 22 in Ordniary Time ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak' First Reading 1 Corinthians 4:1-5  The Lord alone is our judge People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. Not that it makes the slightest difference to me whether you, or indeed any human tribunal, find me worthy or not. I will not even pass judgement on myself. True, my conscience does not reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God. Responsorial Psalm:  The salvation of the just comes from the Lord Gospel Luke 5:33-39  When the bridegroom...

Thursday Week 23 in Ordinary Time - St, Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ First reading 1 Corinthian 3:18-23  The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. Responsorial Psalm:  The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness. Gospel Luke 5:1-11  They left everything and followed him Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd ...

Monday Week 22 in Ordinary Time -  ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ First Reading 1 Corinthians 2:1-5   The only knowledge I claimed was of the crucified Christ When I came to you, brothers, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed. During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ. Far from relying on any power of my own, I came among you in great ‘fear and trembling’ and in my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God. Responsorial Psalm:  Lord, how I love your law! Gospel Luke 4:16-30  'This text is being fulfilled today, even as you listen' Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into ...

22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself' Firsrt Reading Jeremiah 20:7-9  The word of the Lord has meant insult for me You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced; you have overpowered me: you  were the stronger. I am a daily laughing-stock, everybody’s butt. Each time I speak the word, I have to howl and proclaim: ‘Violence and ruin!’ The word of the Lord has meant for me insult, derision, all day long. I used to say, ‘I will not think about him, I will not speak in his name any more.’ Then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones.  The effort to restrain it wearied me, I could not bear it Responsorial Psalm:  For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God. Second Reading Roans 12:1-2  Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice Think of God’s mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodie...

Saturday Week 21 in Ordinary Time: The beheading of John the Baptist ‘I will give you anything you ask.' First Reading  1 Corinthians 1:26-31  God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, to shame the wise Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything. The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord. Responsor...