Responsorial Psalm

℟. (Lk 8:8) The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

You have visited the land and watered it;
   greatly have you enriched it.
God’s watercourses are filled;
   you have prepared the grain.

℟. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

Thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows,
   breaking up its clods,
softening it with showers,
   blessing its yield.

℟. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

You have crowned the year with your bounty,
   and your paths overflow with a rich harvest;
the untilled meadows overflow with it,
   and rejoicing clothes the hills.

℟. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

The fields are garmented with flocks
   and the valleys blanketed with grain.
   They shout for joy and sing.

℟. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

2nd Reading

Rom 8:18-23

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans

Brothers and sisters:
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing
  compared with the glory to be revealed for us.
For creation awaits with eager expectation
   the revelation of the children of God;
   for creation was made subject to futility,
   not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it,
   in hope that creation itself
   would be set free from slavery to corruption
   and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;
   and not only that, but we ourselves,
   who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
   we also groan within ourselves
   as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

The word of the Lord.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower.
All who come to him will have life forever.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 13:1-23 or 13:1-9

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
   that he got into a boat and sat down,
   and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
   “A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
   and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
   and when the sun rose it was scorched,
   and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
   a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The disciples approached him and said,
“Why do you speak to them in parables?”
 He said to them in reply,
   “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven
   has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
   from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

This is why I speak to them in parables, because
   they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.

Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
   You shall indeed hear but not understand
      you shall indeed look but never see.
   Gross is the heart of this people,
      they will hardly hear with their ears,
      they have closed their eyes,
      lest they see with their eyes
      and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted,
      and I heal them.

 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
   and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
   longed to see what you see but did not see it,
   and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

 “Hear then the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one
   who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it,
   and the evil one comes and steals away
   what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
   is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
   he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
   but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
   and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
   is the one who hears the word and understands it,
   who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

Or: [Shorter Form]

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
   that he got into a boat and sat down,
   and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
   “A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
   and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
   and when the sun rose it was scorched,
   and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
   a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Then he kisses the book, saying quietly:

Through the words of the Gospel
may our sins be wiped away.

The Creed is said.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of
the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right
hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the
Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to
the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Gospel Canticle

Ant. The disciples went out and preached repentance. They anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Canticle of Zechariah
Luke 1:68-79
The Messiah and his forerunner

Blessed + be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old †
  that he would save us from our enemies, *
  from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight
   all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.


Ant. The disciples went out and preached repentance. They anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.