RELIGION AND ART

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me?' First Reading Eclasisticle 27: 33-28,9 Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you; and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven Resentment and anger, these are foul things, and both are found with the sinner. He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord.  who keeps strict account of sin. Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven. If a man nurses anger against another, can he then demand compassion from the Lord? Showing no pity for a man like himself, can he then plead for his own sins? Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment; who will forgive him his sins? Remember the last things, and stop hating. remember dissolution and death, and live by the commandments. Remember the commandments, and do not bear your neighbour ill-will; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the offence. Responsorial Psalm:...

Saturday, Week 3 in Ordinary Time ‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord” and not do what I say?' First Reading 1 Corinthians 10:14-22  We are a single body because we all share the one bread My dear brothers, you must keep clear of idolatry. I say to you as sensible people: judge for yourselves what I am saying. The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf. Look at the other Israel, the race, where those who eat the sacrifices are in communion with the altar. Does this mean that the food sacrificed to idols has a real value, or that the idol itself is real? Not at all. It simply means that the sacrifices that they offer they sacrifice to demons who are not God. I have no desire to see you in communion with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord...

Friday Week 23 in Ordinary Time: ' Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first' First Reading 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27  We go into strict training, like fighters at the games I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me. So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings. All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the sam...

Wednesday Week 23 in Ordinary Time - Saint Peter Claver, Priest 'Happy you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied' First Reading 1 Corinthians 7:25-31  The world as we know it is passing away About remaining celibate, I have no directions from the Lord but give my own opinion as one who, by the Lord’s mercy, has stayed faithful. Well then, I believe that in these present times of stress this is right: that it is good for a man to stay as he is. If you are tied to a wife, do not look for freedom; if you are free of a wife, then do not look for one. But if you marry, it is no sin, and it is not a sin for a young girl to get married. They will have their troubles, though, in their married life, and I should like to spare you that. Brothers, this is what I mean: our time is growing short. Those who have wives should live as though they had none, and those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for; those who are enjoying life should live as though there we...

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...