FIRST READING: Isaiah 55: 10 - 11
10 As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat,
11 so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth: it will not return to me idle, but it shall accomplish my will, the purpose for which it has been sent.
PSALM: Psalms 65: 10 - 14
10 You water the land and care for it, enriching it with natural resources. God's stream is filled with water; so you prepare the earth to give us its fruits.
11 You drench the furrows in the land and level the ridges, you soften the soil with showers and bless its crops.
12 You crown the year with your goodness; abundance flows everywhere.
13 The deserts have become pasture land, the hills are clothed with gladness,
14 the meadows covered with flocks, the valleys decked with grain - they shout and sing for joy.
SECOND READING: Romans 8: 18 - 23
18 I consider that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the Glory that will be revealed and given to us.
19 All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of God.
20 For if now the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the one who subjected it. But it is not without hope;
21 for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth.
23 Not creation alone, but even ourselves, although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when God will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well.
GOSPEL: Matthew 13: 1 - 23 OR Matthew 13: 1 - 9
1 That same day Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside.
2 As many people gathered around him, he got in a boat. There he sat while the whole crowd stood on the shore,
3 and he spoke to them in parables about many things.
4 Jesus said, "The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up.
5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep.
6 But as soon the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots.
7 Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants.
8 Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop; some produced a hundredfold, others sixty and others thirty.
9 If you have ears, then hear!"
10 Then his disciples came to him with the question, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
11 Jesus answered, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people.
12 For the one who has, will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has.
13 That is why I speak to them in parables, because they look and do not see; they hear, but they do not listen or understand.
14 In them the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled: Much as you hear, you do not understand; much as you see, you do not perceive.
15 For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back and I would heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
17 For I tell you that many prophets and upright people would have longed to see the things you see, but they did not, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear it.
18 Now listen to the parable of the sower.
19 When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but without taking it to himself, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.
20 The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy.
21 But this fickle and has no roots. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.
22 The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit.
23 As for the seed that fell on good soil it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more."
OR
1 That same day Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside.
2 As many people gathered around him, he got in a boat. There he sat while the whole crowd stood on the shore,
3 and he spoke to them in parables about many things.
4 Jesus said, "The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up.
5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep.
6 But as soon the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots.
7 Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants.
8 Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop; some produced a hundredfold, others sixty and others thirty.
9 If you have ears, then hear!"
