Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

There is no other god besides you,
who cares for everything:
thus you show that your judgments are not unjust.
    Your strength is the source of your justice,
and your dominion over all things
allows you to spare everything.
    You show your strength
if people do not believe in the fullness of your power,
and those who challenge it knowingly, you rebuke.
    But you, who possess strength,
judge with kindness,
govern us with much restraint,
for you only have to will it to exert your power.
    By your example you taught your people
that the just must be humane;
to your sons you have given a beautiful hope:
after sin, you grant conversion.

    – The Word of the Lord.

You, who are good and forgiving,
full of love for all who call upon you,
hear my prayer, Lord,
listen to my voice as I beg you.

All the nations you have made
will come and bow down before you,
for you are great and you do wonderful deeds,
you alone are God.

You, Lord, God of tenderness and mercy,
slow to anger, full of love and faithfulness!
Turn to me,
have mercy on me.

Brothers and sisters,
    the Holy Spirit comes to help us in our weakness,
for we do not know how to pray as we ought.
The Spirit himself intercedes for us
with inexpressible groanings.
    And God, who searches hearts,
knows the intention of the Spirit,
since it is according to God
that the Spirit intercedes for the faithful.

    – The Word of the Lord.

At that time,
    Jesus proposed this parable to the crowd:
"The kingdom of heaven may be compared
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
    But while everyone was asleep,
his enemy came;
he sowed weeds among the wheat
and went away.
    When the stalk grew and produced an ear,
then the weeds also appeared.
    The master's servants came to him and said:
'Lord, was it not good seed
you sowed in your field?
Where then did the weeds come from?'
    He told them:
'An enemy has done this.'
The servants said to him:
'Do you want us to go and remove them?'
    He replied:
'No, for in removing the weeds,
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
    Let them grow together until the harvest;
and at harvest time,
I will say to the reapers:
First collect the weeds,
tie them in bundles to be burned;
as for the wheat, gather it
into my barn.'"

    He proposed another parable to them:
"The kingdom of heaven may be compared
to a mustard seed which a man took
and sowed in his field.
    It is the smallest of all the seeds,
but when it has grown,
it is larger than all the garden plants
and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air come
and make their nests in its branches."
    He told them another parable:
"The kingdom of heaven may be compared
to yeast that a woman took
and mixed with three measures of flour,
until all of it was leavened."

    Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables,
and he did not speak to them without a parable,
    thus fulfilling what the prophet had spoken:
I will open my mouth with parables,
I will proclaim what was hidden since the foundation of the world.
    Then, leaving the crowds, he went into the house.
His disciples approached him and said:
"Explain to us clearly
the parable of the weeds in the field."
    He answered them:
"The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
    the field is the world;
the good seeds are the children of the Kingdom;
the weeds are the children of the Evil One.
    The enemy who sowed them is the devil;
the harvest is the end of the world;
the reapers are the angels.
    Just as the weeds are gathered
to be burned in the fire,
so it will be at the end of the world.
    The Son of Man will send his angels,
and they will collect from his Kingdom
all causes of sin
and all evildoers;
    they will throw them into the furnace:
there, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
    Then the righteous will shine like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father.

Whoever has ears,
let them hear!"

    – Let us acclaim the Word of God.

 

OR SHORTER READING

At that time,
    Jesus proposed this parable to the crowd:
"The kingdom of heaven may be compared
to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
    But while everyone was asleep,
his enemy came;
he sowed weeds among the wheat
and went away.
    When the stalk grew and produced an ear,
then the weeds also appeared.
    The master's servants came to him and said:
'Lord, was it not good seed
you sowed in your field?
Where then did the weeds come from?'
    He told them:
'An enemy has done this.'
The servants said to him:
'Do you want us to go and remove them?'
    He replied:
'No, for in removing the weeds,
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
    Let them grow together until the harvest;
and at harvest time,
I will say to the reapers:
First collect the weeds,
tie them in bundles to be burned;
as for the wheat, gather it
into my barn.'"

    – Let us acclaim the Word of God.