Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Pietà
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1499 / Vatican Museums

First Reading
From the Book of the Proverbs

When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.

Picture and quote (below) are from Art and the Bible: http://www.artbible.info/

Pietà is Italian for pity, as in "have pity on me". In the arts, the word is used to refer to images of the Virgin Mary and her recently deceased son. The Bible does not mention such a moment. This clever composition shows all the master's skills. As with his David, the figures are deliberately out of proportion to achieve the desired pyramidal structure. The right hand supports the dead body, while the left hand seems to call for compassion. Against tradition, Mary is shown as a young woman. It is said that Michelangelo motivated his choice by arguing that Mary’s virginity would have kept her from ageing normally. This Pietà was made for St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome, where it still is on display. It is probably Michelangelo's most famous sculpture, maybe only matched by his David in Florence. It is the only work he ever signed.

Mass times in the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth: http://www.fwdioc.org

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Christ in House of Martha and Mary
Johannes Vermeer / 1654

From the Book of the prophet Isaiah

Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
Come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread;
your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant . . .

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An early work by Vermeer. It is likely that he freely borrowed elements from mostly Italian masters, including Jesus' face and the gesture he makes with his right hand. Mary listens attentively while her sister Martha presents the bread. Jesus says that Martha had better do like her sister.

This text and picture from Art and the Bible. http://www.artbible.info/art/

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter

Caravaggio
1601

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From the Acts of the Apostles

On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers,while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying,“Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.”

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Tradition had it that St Peter was captured and crucified head-down in Rome during the reign of Nero, between 64 and 67. Caravaggio's image of St Peter strongly resembles a mirror image of him in a fresco by Michelangelo. Art and above text from: http://www.artbible.info/art/
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Seventh Sunday of Easter

Luca della Robbia: The Ascension / 1440

From the Acts of the Apostles

After Jesus had been taken up to heaven the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.

When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying,
Peter and John and James and Andrew,Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. After Jesus had been taken up to heaven the apostles returned to Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.

Easter 2008

Eugene Burnand
Peter and John Running to the Tomb
1898
Musee d'Orsay, Paris

From the Gospel of St. John

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

From the National Library of France

The Anointing of David by Samuel
Breviary of Martin d'Aragon, 14th Century
Biliothèque Nationale de France.

Fourth Sunday of Lent / First Book of Samuel 16

Then Samuel asked Jesse,
“Are these all the sons you have?”
Jesse replied,
“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”
Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,
“There—anoint him, for this is the one!”
Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed David in the presence of his brothers;
and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
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FFW has made an occasional feature a regular feature, to wit: on Sunday we highlight a work of art and attempt to relate the work to the liturgical calendar. Monday we return to the normal food, news, events and bad, dad jokes.

Water From The Rock

FFW has made an occasional feature a regular feature, to wit: Sundays we highlight a work of art and attempt to relate the work to the liturgical calendar. Monday's we return to the normal food, news, events and bad, dad jokes.
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3rd Sunday of Lent
First Reading: Exodus 17:5

The LORD answered Moses,
“Go over there in front of the people,
along with some of the elders of Israel,
holding in your hand, as you go,
the staff with which you struck the river.
I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it
for the people to drink.”
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Moses Gets Water Out if the Rock / J. H. Steen / 1650
Philadelphia Museum of Art




















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Gospel Reading
The Gospel of St John chapter 4.

“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty
or have to keep coming here to draw water.

Christ and the Samaritan Woman / Bernard Strozzi / 1630

Christ in the Desert: Ivan Kramskoi, 1872

F&FW is making an occasional feature a regular feature, to wit: Sundays we will highlight a work of art. We will attempt, as here, to relate the work to the calendar. Monday we return to local food, news and bad, dad jokes.
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First Sunday of Lent.
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit
into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
Gospel of St. Matthew 4:1

February 3 -- Morning Reading -- Psalm 34 b

This poor man called; the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all distress

Come children hear me
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life
And many days, to enjoy his prosperity?

Then keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn aside from evil and do good;
seek and strive for peace.

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The Calling of St . Matthew / Caravaggio / 1600

The Tantum Ergo of St. Thomas Aquinas

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Genitori Genitoque
Laus et Jubilatio
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio

Learn more: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14445b.htm

Food and Faith Sunday: John Paul II

This is a chapter from the first encyclical of John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis (The Redeemer of Man), published in 1979. It summarizes a theme heard frequently during his pontifical mission, which may have been his primary theme: love is sacrificial act, as demonstrated in the incarnation and the cross. Man's hope, his very identity, is secured to those realities.
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8. The human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption

Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer "fully reveals man to himself". If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the Redemption man becomes newly "expressed" and, in a way, is newly created. He is newly created! "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus".
The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being-he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must "appropriate" and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself. How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he "gained so great a Redeemer, and if God "gave his only Son "in order that man "should not perish but have eternal life". In reality, the name for that deep amazement at man's worth and dignity is the Gospel, that is to say: the Good News. It is also called Christianity. This amazement determines the Church's mission in the world and, perhaps even more so,"in the modern world". This amazement, which is also a conviction and a certitude ---at its deepest root it is the certainty of faith, but in a hidden and mysterious way it vivifies every aspect of authentic humanism ---is closely connected with Christ. It also fixes Christ's place ---so to speak, his particular right of citizenship-in the history of man and mankind. Unceasingly contemplating the whole of Christ's mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, leading through the Cross and death to Resurrection.
The Church's fundamental function in every age and particularly in ours is to direct man's gaze, to point the awareness and experience of the whole of humanity towards the mystery of God, to help all men to be familiar with the profundity of the Redemption taking place in Christ Jesus. At the same time man's deepest sphere is involved -- we mean the sphere of human hearts, consciences and events.