READINGS AT MASS ON SUNDAY,JULY 13, 2014 First Reading: Is - TopicsExpress



          

READINGS AT MASS ON SUNDAY,JULY 13, 2014 First Reading: Is 55:10-11 Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. Commentary on Is 55:10-11: At the threshold of the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem, these verses are dedicated to the word of God: alive, fertile and able to impregnate, powerful in generating and nourishing new life. The word of God is faithful to his promise, to his covenant. All it asks is for the people to return to him and they shall return to their land. Nevertheless, whether the people will return to him or not, he will always be there for them, to fulfill his word, his incarnate love, his Word! Responsorial Psalm: Ps 65:10, 11, 12- 13, 14 R: The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest. You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God’s watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain. R: The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest. Thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows, breaking up its clods, softening it with showers, blessing its yield. R: The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest. You have crowned the year with your bounty, and your paths overflow with a rich harvest; the untilled meadows overflow with it, and rejoicing clothes the hills. R: The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest. The fields are garmented with flocks and the valleys blanketed with grain. They shout and sing for joy. R: The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest. Commentary on Ps 65: This hymn dedicated to God may be divided into three parts, namely: (a) the temple scene, vv. 2-5; (b) the universe or the cosmos (vv. 6-9), and (c) the land of Israel (vv. 10-14). The texts we have belong to the third part. These verses portray God’s care for the land of Israel, and how the land, the materiality of the land – with its rivers and seas and their natural inhabitants – have responded positively: being filled with the richness of God, they erupt with joy and gladness. The refrain is remarkable: it contains both the present and the future. The future is in the present. Second Reading: Rom 8:18-23 Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. L: The Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. Commentary on Rom 8:18-23: This is a moving and magnificent exposition by Paul of his expectation of glory for all creation. He does not separate the lot of humanity from that of creation: when the first man and woman were created, nature was created with them. When they fell, so did creation. And now that they are groaning, so also is creation. Waiting for new life, both humanity and creation await their glory, already in Christ but not yet in its fullness. But the Christian has a special role in this hope of glory: while together with the rest of humanity and all of creation, Christians groan, still, precisely because of their possession of the first fruits of the Spirit, therefore, Christians must proclaim the quality of this hope – proclaim the Good News of our salvation, as an adoption, in solidarity with all of humanity and creation that are groaning in suffering. Gospel: Mat 13:1-23 On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” [The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, 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 hear but do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I 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 longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. “Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”] Commentary on Mat 13:1-23 Jesus, the sower of the word of the kingdom of heaven, respects the freedom of the hearers of the good news of an alternative way of living. There are those who do not understand it, or who refuse to understand it, so they allow the adversary of the alternative way of living to take it away. There are others who receive it with joy but in a shallow manner, in the sense that they want to receive it without pain and sacrifice. That is why when they see that other believers are living a hard life or are persecuted because of the good news, they easily surrender their faith and they look for joy somewhere else outside of the kingdom. Still others hear the word of God, but they cannot get it because they are so rooted in the world of luxury, comfort and power. Even though they go to church often, and surround themselves with holy men and women and wrap themselves with devotions, still in them, the kingdom of God cannot bear fruit. But those who readily take this good news to heart, especially the poor and the little ones, they are the ones who can make the reality of the kingdom grow into an abundant harvest. They suffer and they may die, in solidarity with the citizens of the kingdom and their cause. But their struggle will bear fruit, and amazingly, for all, even for those who persecuted and killed them. SOURCE> Pagdiriwang Misalette-English
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 00:55:59 +0000

Trending Topics



Recently Viewed Topics




© 2015