Mass Readings: Sunday, 12th July 2020

FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah    55:10-11
The rain makes the earth give growth.

Thus says the Lord:
As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not
return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth
to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating,
so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty,
without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.

The Word of the Lord.



Responsorial Psalm    Ps 64

Response : Some seed fell into rich soil and produced its crop.

1. You care for the earth, give it water,
you fill it with riches.
Your river in heaven brims over
to provide its grain.

2. And thus you provide for the earth;
you drench its furrows,
you level it, soften it with showers,
you bless its growth.

3. You crown the year with your goodness.
Abundance flows in your steps,
in the pastures of the wilderness it flows.

4. The hills are girded with joy,
the meadows covered with flocks,
the valleys are decked with wheat.

They shout for joy, yes, they sing.



SECOND READING
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Romans 8:18-23
The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons.

I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the
glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us. The whole creation is
eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons. It was not for any fault on
the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it
was made so by God; but creation still retains the hope of being
freed, like us, from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same
freedom and glory as the children of God. From the beginning till
now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one
great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who
possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait
for our bodies to be set free.


The Word of the Lord.


Gospel Acclamation  Mt 11: 25

Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of
eternal life.
Alleluia!
or
Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower; whoever finds this
seed will remain for ever.

Alleluia!



GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 13:1-23
A sower went out to sow.

Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds
gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The
people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in
parables.
He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some
seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate
them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil
and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth;
but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having
any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the
thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and
produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Listen, anyone who has ears!’
Then the disciples went up to him and asked, ‘Why do you talk to
them in parables?’ ‘Because’ he replied ‘the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed
to them. For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have
more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has
will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they
look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So
in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:
You will listen and listen again, but not understand,
see and see again, but not perceive.
For the heart of this nation has grown coarse,
their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,
for fear they should see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and be converted
and be healed by me.
‘But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they
hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see
what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never
heard it.
‘You, therefore, are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone
hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one
comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who
received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it
on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it
at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some
trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls
away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man
who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of
riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one
who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word
and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces
now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’

The Gospel of the Lord.
_______________________________

Shorter form

GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 13:1-23
A sower went out to sow.

Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds
gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The
people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in
parables.
He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some
seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate
them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil
and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth;
but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having
any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the
thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and
produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Listen, anyone who has ears!’

The Gospel of the Lord.