Friday of 14th week of Ordinary Time, Year 2

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of the Prophet Hosea            14:2-10
We will not say, "Our God!" to what our own hands have made.

The Lord says this:

Israel, come back to the Lord your God;
your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.
Provide yourself with words and come back to the Lord.
Say to him, 'Take all iniquity away
so that we may have happiness again
and offer you our words of praise.
Assyria cannot save us,
we will not ride horses any more
or say, "Our God!" to what our own hands have made,
for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion. –
I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will fall like dew on Israel.
He shall bloom like the lily,
and thrust out roots like the poplar,
his shoots will spread far;
he will have the beauty of the olive
and the fragrance of Lebanon.
They will come back to live in my shade;
they will grow corn that flourishes,
they will cultivate vines
as renowned as the wine of Helbon.
What has Ephraim to do with idols any more
when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him?
I am like a cypress ever green,
all your fruitfulness comes from me.

Let the wise man understand these words.
Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning.
For the ways of the Lord are straight,
and virtuous men walk in them,
but sinners stumble.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm             Ps 50
Response                                   My mouth shall declare your praise.

1. Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
a wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.                              Response

2. Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.         Response

3. A pure heart create for me, a God"
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.                    Response

4. Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.         Response

Gospel  Acclamation      1 Pt 1: 25
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever: What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!

Or                                             Jn 16: 13
Alleluia, alleluia!
When the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth,
and he will remind you of all that I have said to you.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew     10:16-23
It is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.

'Beware of men: they will hand you over to Sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

'Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.'

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Gospel Reflection       Friday          Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time       Matthew 10:16-23

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus paints a stark picture of the hostility that his followers can expect from the surrounding society. They will be dragged before both Jewish and pagan authorities; some of them will be betrayed to those authorities by members of their own families. This was the reality of life for many of Jesus’ followers in the early decades, indeed the first two centuries, of the church’s existence. The sombre picture Jesus paints in that gospel reading may seem very far from our own experience today. Yet, in every age, in every generation, there are Christians who are experiencing the kind of hostility that Jesus describes in the gospel reading. There are several regimes in today’s world which will not tolerate a vibrant church that witnesses to the vision that Jesus had for human living. Even in our own tolerant, pluralist, society, those of us who believe in all that Jesus said and did and who try to give expression to that belief in our way of life can find ourselves somewhat isolated and, even, barely tolerated at times. There will always be some tension between the values of the gospel and the values of the culture in which we try to live the gospel. This gospel reading continues to speak to us today. In the words of that reading, Jesus calls on us to stand firm to the end. In other words, we are to be courageous in our living of our faith in him. The less supportive the culture is of our faith and the way of life it inspires, the more courageous we need to be. In the gospel reading, Jesus assures his disciples that in the difficult days to come, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls ‘the Spirit of your Father’, will be available to them. That same Holy Spirit remains our resource today. It is above all when our faith is put to the test by the culture we inhabit that we need to make our own that lovely prayer in today’s responsorial psalm, ‘Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit’
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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 www.messenger.ie/bookshop

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15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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.                                        Response

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

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

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.               Response

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.

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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.




Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.