FIRST READING 

A reading from the second book of  Samuel         7: 4-17
Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me.

The word of the Lord came to Nathan

'Go and tell my servant David, "Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I have never stayed in a house from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today, but have always led a wanderer's life in a tent. In all my journeying with the whole people of Israel, did I say to any one of the judges of Israel, whom I had appointed as shepherds of Israel my people: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" This is what you must say to my servant David, "the Lord Sabaoth says this: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. the Lord will make you great; Yahweh will make you a House.

And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. (It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will make his royal throne secure for ever.) I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Yet my will is not to withdraw my favour from him, as I withdrew it from your predecessor. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever."' Nathan related all these words to David and this whole revelation.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm        Ps 88
Response                              I will keep my love tor him always.

1. I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.        Response

2. He will say to me: 'You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me:
And I will make him my first-born,
the highest of the kings of the earth.               Response

3.  I will keep my love for him always;
for him my covenant shall endure.
I will establish his dynasty for ever,
make his throne as lasting as the heavens.    Response

Gospel  Acclamation                               1 Sam 3: 9
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 the seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                                                 

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark        4: 1-20
Imagine a sower going out to sow.

Again he began to teach by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The people were all along the shore, at the water's edge. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, 'Listen!, Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.' And he said, 'Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!'

When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, 'The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and be forgiven'.

He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them. Similarly, those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, they fall away at once. Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.'

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Gospel Reflection            Wednesday                  Third Week in Ordinary Time              Mark 4:1-20

Many scholars hold that, whereas the parable in today’s gospel reading was spoken by Jesus, the interpretation that follows reflects the experience of the early church. In the interpretation, the focus has shifted from the sower to the various types of soil which have come to represent various responses to the preaching of the gospel. How might Jesus have intended this parable to be heard? When Jesus saw the farmer going out to sow seeds, it reminded him of the way God was at work in his ministry. Jesus noticed that the farmer scattered the seed with abandon, not knowing what kind of soil it would fall on. Inevitably, a great deal of the seed that was scattered never germinated. Yet, some of the seed fell on good soil and produced an extraordinary harvest. In a similar way, God was scattering the seed of his life-giving word through Jesus’ ministry. God’s favour was being scattered abroad in an almost reckless manner. God gave the most unlikely places the opportunity of receiving the life-giving seed of his word. Jesus’ ministry had something of that scatter-gun approach of the sower. There was nothing selective about Jesus’ company. As with the farmer in the parable, much of what Jesus scattered was lost; it met with little or no response. Yet, Jesus knew that some people were receiving the seed of his word, and that would be enough to bring about the harvest of God’s kingdom. In speaking this parable, Jesus may have been speaking a word of encouragement to his disciples, ‘Despite all the setbacks, the opposition and hostility, God is at work and that work will lead to something wonderful’. The seed of the gospel is good and powerful. Whatever the odds against us, we must keep sowing.

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The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/The Gospel reflection comes from WEEKDAY REFLECTIONS 2019-20: The Word of God is Living and Active by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f https://www.messenger.ie/product/the-word-of-god-is-living-and-active-reflections-on-the-weekday-readings-for-the-liturgical-year-2019-2020/c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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The Presentation of the Lord

First Reading

A reading from the prophet Malachi               3:1-4
The Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter the temple.

 Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears?

For he is like the refiner's fire and the fuller's alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm                 Ps 23
Response                                      Who is the king of glory? It is the Lord.

1. O gates, lift up your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!      Response

2. Who is the king of glory?
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war.             Response

3. O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!      Response

4. Who is he, the king of glory?
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.                       Response

SECOND READING   

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Hebrews       2:14-18
It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers and sisters.

Since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Jesus too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself descent from Abraham. It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God's religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.

The Word of the Lord

Gospel  Acclamation          Acts 16: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
The light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL  

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke        2:22-40
My eyes have seen your salvation.

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord- observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord- and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel's comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

'Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel'.

As the child's father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected, and a sword will pierce your own soul too so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare'.

There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God s favour was with him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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A Gospel Reflection                     The Presentation of the Lord          Luke 2:22–40

In today’s first reading, the prophet Malachi announces that the Lord will one day enter his Temple in Jerusalem as the refiner and purifier of his people, so that their worship will be as the Lord desires it. In John’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he will enable people to worship God as God wants to be worshipped, a worship in spirit and truth. Jesus is referring to a worship of God that is inspired by the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. This worship of God, inspired by the Spirit of God, is not confined to a religious building, a church. The Spirit inspires us to worship God not only with our lips, as in the liturgy, but with our lives. Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans refers to our spiritual worship, by which he means a worship which embraces all of our lives. He calls on us to present our bodies, our embodied selves, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is the worship of our lives. Each day we are to offer our lives to God. This was the kind of worship that characterised the life of Jesus. In the gospel reading, Mary and Joseph came to the principal place of worship for Jews, the Temple. They come not just to worship, but to present their son to God. As an adult, Jesus lived out that presentation of himself to God that was made by his parents at this time. Throughout his adult life, Jesus presented himself as a living sacrifice to God, in the words of Saint Paul. He lived his life with a clear focus on God at all times. Jesus calls on us to have that same focus. Because Jesus is the full revelation of God, to live our lives with a clear focus on God means living our lives with a clear focus on Jesus, our risen Lord. Today’s feast encourages us to keep presenting ourselves, our hearts, minds and bodies, to the Lord. We are to keep our relationship with the Lord to the fore in all we say and do. In that way, our whole lives will be a worship of the Lord.

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The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/

The Gospel reflection comes from: Weekday Reflections for the Liturgical Year 2018/2019; I Want to Know Christ
by Martin Hogan, published by The Messenger  c/f   www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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