Readings: Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading

1st Reading: Jer 3:14–17

Come back, faithless people – it is Yahweh who speaks – for I am your master. I will select one from a city and two from a family and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and prudence. And when you have increased and multiplied in the land in those days – it is Yahweh who speaks – people will no longer speak of the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; it will not be remembered or missed, nor shall it be made again!

Then they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh’ and all the nations will gather there to honor the name of Yahweh and no longer will they follow the stubbornness of their wicked hearts.

Responsorial Psalm

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 36:6-7,8-9,10-11

R./ With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.

    O LORD, your mercy reaches to heaven;
    your faithfulness, to the clouds.
    Your justice is like the mountains of God;
    your judgments, like the mighty deep.
    R./ With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.

    How precious is your mercy, O God!
    The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
    They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house;
    from your delightful stream you give them to drink.
    R./ With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.

    For with you is the fountain of life,
    and in your light we see light.
    Keep up your mercy toward your friends,
    your just defense of the upright of heart.
    R./ With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.

Holy Gospel

Gospel: Matthew 13:18-23

Jesus said to his disciples, “Now listen to the parable of the sower.

“When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but without taking it to himself, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.

“The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. But this is fickle and has no roots. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.

“The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit.

“As for the seed that fell on good soil it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.”