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  Girl with a Pearl Earring Vermeer [ Web Gallery of art ] Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 13:44-52 [Shorter version: 44-46]  ( English Standard Version Anglicised, India) Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.   “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,   who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. [ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.   When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.   So it will be at the c...

  Sheaves of Wheat Vincent van Gogh [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 13:24-43 [Shorter version: 24-30]  ( English Standard Version Anglicised, India) Jesus put another parable before them, saying,  “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,   but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.   So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.   And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’   He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’   But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you ...

  Man Praying Vincent van Gogh [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Luke 11:1-13 ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”   And he said to them,  “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins,      for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” And he said to them,  “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,   for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I...

  The Good Shepherd Early Italian Christian Painter [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel     John 19:11-18     (English Standard Version, Anglicised) Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.   He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.   He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.   I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,   just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.   And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my...

The Virgin Mary El Greco [ Web Gallery of Art ] 'The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the  depth of the Gospel message in its entirety , of which it can be said to be a compendium. It is an echo of the prayer of Mary, her perennial  Magnificat  for the work of the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the Christian people  sits at the school of Mary  and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.' [St John Paul II,  Rosarium Virginis Mariae , No 1. ]  The Rosary here is the formula prayed by members of the  Legion of Mary , the way I prefer. There are various ways of beginning and ending the Rosary but the Five Mysteries are t...