A Catholic's Life at Member of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, ., FL . US - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time |
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| Parable of The Sower; Icon, Location Sts. Konstantine and Helen Orthodox Church, Cluj, Romania |
my word shall not return to me void,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14
R. (Lk 8:8) 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.
R. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
Thus have you prepared the land: drenching its furrows,
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,
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.
R. The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
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,
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,
as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Matthew 13:1-23 or 13:1-9
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:
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
The disciples approached him and said,
“Why do you speak to them in parables?”
“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.
they will hardly hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts and be converted,
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
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
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,
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
Features Artwork of the Week
· Parable of The Sower; Icon, Location Sts. Konstantine and Helen Orthodox Church, Cluj, Romania