FIRST READING
1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49
Brothers and sisters:
Someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?”
You fool!
What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.
So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 56:10c-12, 13-14
R. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
Now I know that God is with me. In God, in whose promise I glory, in God I trust without fear; what can flesh do against me?
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
I am bound, O God, by vows to you; your thank offerings I will fulfill. For you have rescued me from death, my feet, too, from stumbling; that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
ALLELUIA
See Luke 8:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Luke 8:4-15
When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable. “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.” After saying this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
Then his disciples asked him what the meaning of this parable might be. He answered, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.
“This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation. As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.”
REFLECTIONS:
How good are you at listening, especially for the
word of God? God is always ready to speak to each of us and to give us
understanding of his word. Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the
hearers of his word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and
they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced
hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to the
things of God. Then there is the shallow hearer who fails to think things
out or think them through; such a person lacks spiritual depth. They may
initially respond with an emotional fervor; but when it wears off their
mind wanders to something else.
Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests or cares,
but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly important.
Such a person is for ever too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study
and meditate on God's word. He or she may work so hard that they are too
tired to even think of anything else but their work. Then there is the
one whose mind is open. Such a person is at all times willing to listen
and to learn. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen
in order to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for his word
that they may understand his will and have the strength to live according
to it. Do you hunger for God's word?
"Lord Jesus, faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder
your divine plan is to grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds, and
my ears to the sound of your call, that I may understand your will for
my life and live according to it."
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