First Reading

The Book of Jeremiah (Jer 7: 1-11)

Has this house which bears my name become a den of thieves?

The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD,
and there proclaim this message:
Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah
who enter these gates to worship the LORD!
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.
Put not your trust in the deceitful words:

“This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!”

Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds;
if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;
if you no longer oppress the resident alien,
the orphan, and the widow;
if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place,
or follow strange gods to your own harm,
will I remain with you in this place,
in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.

But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss!
Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,
burn incense to Baal,
go after strange gods that you know not,
and yet come to stand before me
in this house which bears my name, and say:

“We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again”?

Has this house which bears my name
become in your eyes a den of thieves?
I too see what is being done, says the LORD.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!

My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!

Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.

I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

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

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ accoding to Saint Matthew (Mt 13: 24-30)

Let them grow together until harvest.

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.’”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

The Book of Jeremiah (Jer 3: 14-17)

I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart. All nations will be gathered together at Jerusalem.

Return, rebellious children, says the LORD,
for I am your Master;
I will take you, one from a city, two from a clan,
and bring you to Zion.
I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart,
who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.
When you multiply and become fruitful in the land,
says the LORD,
They will in those days no longer say,

“The ark of the covenant of the LORD!”

They will no longer think of it, or remember it,
or miss it, or make another.

At that time they will call Jerusalem the LORD’s throne;
there all nations will be gathered together
to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem,
and they will walk no longer in their hardhearted wickedness.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Jer 31: 10, 11-12abcd, 13

The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.

The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 13: 18-23)

The one who hears the word and understands it bears fruit.

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Hear 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
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
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,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.