27 Jul 2013, Saturday of Week 16; Blessed Titus Brandsma

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FIRST READING
Exodus 24:3-8

When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the LORD has told us.” Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and, rising early the next day, he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, having sent certain young men of the children of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD, Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.” Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.”

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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15

R. (14a) Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

“Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his justice; for God himself is the judge.

R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

“Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High; Then call upon me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.”

R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

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ALLELUIA
James 1:21bc

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

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GOSPEL
Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Meditation: What can malicious weed-sowing tell us about the kingdom of God? The image Jesus uses here is a common everyday example of planting, harvesting, and sorting the good fruit from the bad. Weeds can spoil and even kill a good harvest if they are not separated and destroyed at the proper time. Uprooting them too early, though, can destroy the good plants in the process. Just as nature teaches us patience, so God's patience also teaches us to guard the word which he has planted in our hearts and to beware of the destructive force of sin and deception which can destroy it. God's word brings life, but Satan, the father of lies, seeks to destroy the good seed which God plants in the hearts of those who listen to his word. God's judgment is not hasty, but it does come. And in the end, God will reward each person according to what he or she has sown and reaped in this life. In that day God will separate the evil from the good. Do you allow God's word to take deep root in your heart?

"Lord Jesus, may your word take deep root in my heart and may I bear good fruit for your glory. May I hunger for your righteousness now that I may also look forward to the day of judgment with joy rather than with dismay."