Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thus says the Lord:
    “As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens
and do not return there without watering the earth,
without making it fertile and making it sprout,
giving seed to the sower
and bread to the one who must eat;
    so is my word that goes forth from my mouth:
it will not return to me empty,
without accomplishing what pleases me,
without achieving its purpose.”

    – The word of the Lord.

You visit the earth and water it,
you fill it with riches;
the streams of God overflow with water,
you prepare the harvests.

Thus, you prepare the earth,
you water its furrows;
you level the ground, you soften it with rain,
you bless its crops.

You crown the year with your goodness,
in your footsteps abundance flows.
In the desert, pastures flow with plenty,
the hills overflow with joy.

The meadows are clothed with flocks
and the valleys are covered with wheat.
Everything rejoices and sings!

Brothers and sisters,
    I consider that the sufferings of the present time
are nothing compared to the glory that is to be revealed for us.
    In fact, creation awaits with eager expectation
the revelation of the children of God.
    For creation was subjected to futility,
not by its own will,
but because of the one who subjected it.
Yet, it kept hope
    of being set free as well from bondage to decay,
to gain the freedom
of the glory given to the children of God.
    We know well
that all of creation groans,
going through the pains of labor
that still continue.
    And it is not alone.
We ourselves, also, groan inwardly;
we have begun to receive the Holy Spirit,
but we wait for our adoption
and the redemption of our body.

    – The word of the Lord.

That day, Jesus left the house,
and sat by the sea.
    So many crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down;
the whole crowd stood on the shore.
    He spoke to them at length in parables:
“Behold, the sower went out to sow.
    And as he sowed,
some seeds fell along the path,
and the birds came and ate them all up.
    Others fell on rocky ground,
where they did not have much soil;
they sprang up quickly,
because the soil was shallow.
    But when the sun rose, they were scorched
and, for lack of roots, withered away.
    Others fell among thorns;
the thorns grew up and choked them.
    Others fell on good soil,
and produced fruit— now a hundred, now sixty, now thirtyfold.
    Whoever has ears,
let them hear!”

    The disciples approached Jesus and said to him:
“Why do you speak to them in parables?”
    He answered them:
“To you it has been given to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been given.
    To the one who has, more will be given,
and he will have abundance;
but from the one who does not have,
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 they hear but do not listen or understand.
    This fulfills for them the prophecy of Isaiah:
You shall indeed hear but not understand;
You shall indeed look but never see.
    For the heart of this people has grown dull:
they are hard of hearing,
they have shut their eyes,
lest their eyes see,
that their ears hear,
that their hearts understand,
that they turn back,
—and I would 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
desired to see what you see,
and did not see it,
to hear what you hear,
and did not hear it.

    So listen to the meaning of the parable of the sower.
    When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it,
the Evil One comes
and snatches away what was sown in the heart:
this is the seed sown along the path.
    The one who receives the seed on rocky ground
is the one who hears the Word
and immediately receives it with joy;
    but he has no root in himself,
he endures for only a while;
when trouble or persecution comes because of the Word,
he immediately falls away.
    The one who received the seed among thorns
is the one who hears the Word;
but the cares of the world and the lure of riches
choke the Word, and it bears no fruit.
    The one who received the seed on good soil
is the one who hears the Word and understands it:
he yields a crop
now a hundred, now sixty, now thirtyfold.”

    – Let us acclaim the word of God.

 

OR SHORTER READING

    That day, Jesus left the house,
and sat by the sea.
    So many crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down;
the whole crowd stood on the shore.
    He spoke to them at length in parables:
“Behold, the sower went out to sow.
    And as he sowed,
some seeds fell along the path,
and the birds came and ate them all up.
    Others fell on rocky ground,
where they did not have much soil;
they sprang up quickly,
because the soil was shallow.
    But when the sun rose, they were scorched
and, for lack of roots, withered away.
    Others fell among thorns;
the thorns grew up and choked them.
    Others fell on good soil,
and produced fruit— now a hundred, now sixty, now thirtyfold.
    Whoever has ears,
let them hear!”

    – Let us acclaim the word of God.