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Today, 4th of December, we celebrate
Saint John Damascene
Reading 1 jer 1:1, 4-10
The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah,
of a priestly family in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin.
The word of the LORD came to me thus:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
“Ah, Lord GOD!” I said,
"I know not how to speak; I am too young.”
But the LORD answered me,
Say not, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Have no fear before them,
because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Then the LORD extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying
See, I place my words in your mouth!
This day I set you
over nations and over kingdoms,
To root up and to tear down,
to destroy and to demolish,
to build and to plant.
Responsorial Psalm ps 71:1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15 and 17
R. (see 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Gospel mt 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:
“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.”
Pygmalion Effect
The Pygmalion Effect (also called Rosenthal Effect) is a psychological phenomenon wherein the hopeful expectations and dreams that one has about another person positively influences the performance of the latter. Research has shown how the positive expectations of teachers correlate with better performance of students. Now, imagine the Pygmalion Effect of God’s words on Jeremiah! Here is a young man with no little inferiority complex: He has a poor self-image; he does not believe he can even speak properly. But God thinks of him differently. God has already thought of Jeremiah highly, knowing him even before he was conceived, setting him apart even before he was born! How can such dream of God go waste? It is no wonder that Jeremiah would grow into the image God had of him.
God has similar dreams and hopes for each one of us. We are all uniquely called into life. What prevents us from trusting God’s dream and growing into his image of us?
Biblie Claret Wednesday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time
THE GOOD SOIL OF LIFE
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
you implant in our hearts
the good seeds of your word
and water it with your grace.
Let the good soil of our hearts
be receptive to each word
that you speak to us
in the Gospel, in the events of life,
in each good person we encounter.
Help us to yield a rich harvest
of integrity, compassion, and love,
by the power of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever.
Liturgy of the Word
Introduction to the First Reading
Jeremiah states in the story of his special calling by God that it is God himself who has given him his mission to speak out as a prophet. God even remedies his inadequacy. He is the mouthpiece of God.
Introduction to the Gospel
God looks for good soil to sow his seeds of life. Do we have the hearts of stone in which nothing grows? Or hearts, open to the Good News, but so overgrown with weeds of constant worrying about the cares of life and things that do not matter, that no time is left to cultivate the growth in us of God's life and love? Let us ask in this Eucharist that we may yield a rich harvest, like the prophet Jeremiah.
General Intercessions
– For those who spread the Good News: pastors and missionaries, catechists and teachers, that they may keep sowing the seed even when they see no harvest yet, we pray:
– For farmers who sow and plant, that God may give them good weather and harvest and that we may be grateful for their work, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may not let the cares of life choke the Word of God in us but that we may be open to God's message and live it constantly, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
the harvest in our fields
has yielded its fruits
and here is bread and wine
to bring us strength and joy.
Let them become the body and blood
of Jesus, your Son,
to keep us growing in the life
that he brought us by his death
and his rising to life,
until we are ready for your harvest.
Grant us this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God, good sower,
in this Eucharist, you have let your Son sow again
the seed of the Good News.
Do not allow the worries of life
to overgrow your good gifts
nor to let your life be strangled in us.
Let each of us and all your Church
be the good soil in which grows
all that you have planted,
that when you walk in your field,
you may smile at the promise
of a rich harvest,
on account of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
"A sower went out to sow." On what kind of soil do we let it fall in us? Maybe at times it is receptive and ready, other times less so. May God's word never remain unanswered in us. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
