Daily Readings for July 27, 2018

1st READING

Sometimes the only consolation we have in times of suffering is that the situation will get worse before it gets better. One of the challenges we face in our faith journey is to keep our hope in God strong enough to move us into action.

Jeremiah 3:14-17

14 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. 15 I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart who will shepherd you wisely and prudently. 16 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. 17 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.  

P S A L M 

Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12, 13

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

10 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. (R) 11 The Lord shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. 12 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. (R) 13 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. (R) 

GOSPEL

Distractions are one of the biggest threats to our faith. We are easily distracted by “half- good” things — things that are good but are not what God wants us to do. One of the enemy’s tactics is to distract us from God’s perfect will. This lessens the impact of our mission to proclaim the Gospel. Let us be faithful in doing the good that He wants us to do.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION 

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

Matthew 13:18-23  

18 Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 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. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. 21 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. 22 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. 23 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.”