Invitation
May I hereby call your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wants to share with you the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, no one except,
can experience that joy by opening his heart
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Opening Word
In life, nothing goes without effort.
If we want to see results somewhere,
we also have to work for it.
It is no different with the seed in the ground.
Even though it comes up seemingly effortlessly,
it needs care and space.
God sows the seed of his love in our hearts.
He hopes it will bear fruit.
Let us let the seed germinate,
do we strive for it,
or do we let it wither on dry or hard ground?
May the word of Jesus be in our hearts
find good soil in our hearts.
FIRST READING Isa. 55, 10-11
The rain makes the earth fertile.
From the prophet Isaiah
Thus speaks the Lord:
“As the rain and the snow fall from heaven
and do not return there,
when they have watered the earth,
made it fruitful
and have covered it with greenery,
when they have given the seed to the sower
and the bread to those who need to eat;
so shall it be with the word
that comes from My mouth;
it does not return to Me fruitlessly;
it returns only when it has accomplished My will
and has fulfilled its mission.”
Responsorial Ps. 65(64), 10abcd, 10e-11, 12-13, 14
Refrain
The seed fell into good ground and bore fruit.
Thou hast tended and watered the earth,
made it rich and fruitful.
Filled to the brim are Thy rain basins,
the stalks Thou hast prepared for the grain.
Thus have Thou provided for all things.
Thou dost water the furrows and level the clods,
drench them with rain and bless the seed.
The whole year is wreathed with Thy gifts,
Thy footsteps drip with fertility.
On lonely steppes the dew glistens,
A girdle of glory lies around the hills.
The meadows wear a garment of flocks,
The valleys are a blanket of grain:
it is all jubilation and praise.
SECOND READING Rom. 8:18-23
Creation fervently longs for the revelation of God’s children.
From the letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of
Rome
Brothers and sisters,
I am convinced
that the sufferings of this time do not outweigh
against the glory
whose revelation awaits us.
Creation too fervently longs
for the revelation of God’s children.
For it is subject to a meaningless existence,
not because it wants it for itself,
but by the will of Him
Who has subjected her to it?
But she is not without hope,
for creation too will be delivered
from the bondage of mortality
and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
For we know
that all nature groans and suffers travail,
always on.
And not only they,
also we
who, after all, have already received the firstfruits of the Spirit,
we too sigh over our own fate,
while we still wait for the redemption of our bodies.
Verse for the Gospel
Alleluia.
The seed is the word of God,
but the sower is Christ.
Whoever receives this word,
shall live forever.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Mt. 13, 1-23 or 1-9
A sower went out to sow.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
Matthew
One day Jesus left his house
and sat down on the shore of the lake.
Then a crowd gathered with Him so numerous
that He had to get into a boat to take His seat there,
while the whole crowd remained standing along the beach.
He spoke to them of many things in parables.
“Once – so He began – a sower went out to sow.
“As he sowed, a portion fell on the road
and the birds came to eat it.
“Another portion fell on the rocky places,
where it didn’t have much earth;
it shot up quickly because it was in shallow soil.
“When the sun had risen,
it suffered from the heat,
so that it withered for lack of root.
“Yet another portion fell among the thistles, and these shot up
so that it suffocated.
“Finally, another portion fell on good soil
and yielded fruit:
Partly a hundred-fold, partly sixty-fold, partly thirty-fold.
“He who has ears, he listens.”
His disciples came to ask Him:
“Why speakest thou unto them in parables?”
He answered in reply:
“To thee is it given
to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them, it is not given.
“To whom hath,
shall be given,
and in abundance;
but he who has not,
to him shall yet be taken away,
even what he has.
“When I speak to them in parables,
it is because they,
though they have eyes they do not see
and though they have ears, they neither hear nor understand.
“Thus is fulfilled in them the prophecy of Isaiah which reads thus:
With thine ears shalt thou listen and yet not understand,
with thine eyes shalt thou look and yet not see.
“For hardened is the heart of this people;
with their ears, they listen badly
and their eyes they shut,
for fear that they would see with their eyes,
with their ears to hear,
with their hearts would understand,
would repent and I would heal them.
“But happy your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear!
“For verily I say unto you:
Many prophets and righteous men have longed
to see what ye see, but they have not seen;
and to hear what ye hear, but they have not heard.
“Ye, therefore, listen to the parable of the sower:
As often as anyone hears the word of the kingdom
but does not understand,
the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart;
that is he who is sown on the way.
“Who was sown on rocky places,
is he who hears the word
and immediately takes it up with gladness:
But he has not taken root; he lives by the moment,
and if he is oppressed or persecuted because of the word,
he immediately falls down.
“Who was sown among thistles is he who does hear the word,
but this is destroyed by the cares of the world
and the delusion of riches stifled
and so it remains without fruit.
“But he who was sown in the good earth,
is he who hears and understands the word
and therefore bears fruit;
in one the yield is a hundredfold,
in another sixtyfold and in another thirtyfold.”
________________________________________________________
Laudato Si
Encyclic of
POPE FRANCIS
On the care of the common home
232. Not everyone is called to engage directly in political life. Society is also enriched by a countless array of organizations that work to promote the common good and defend the environment, whether natural or urban. Some, for example, show concern for a public place (a building, a fountain, an abandoned monument, a landscape, a square), and strive to protect, restore, improve, or beautify it as something belonging to everyone. Around these community actions, relationships develop or are recovered and a new social fabric emerges. Thus, a community can break out of the indifference induced by consumerism. These actions cultivate a shared identity, with a story that can be remembered and handed on. In this way, the world, and the quality of life of the poorest, are cared for, with a sense of solidarity which is at the same time aware that we live in a common home that God has entrusted to us. These community actions, when they express self-giving love, can also become intense spiritual experiences.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Bible Translation,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical Suggestions for Weekdays and Sundays.
Laudato Si Official English translation
_____________________________________________________________________________