KEEP SOWING
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: When we look at nature, we see how much seed is generously sown; yet only a few seeds bear fruit. The Lord himself patiently and extravagantly sows his word in us as a call and a challenge: a call to respond to his word; a challenge to imitate him in generously sowing the seed and patiently waiting for it to bear fruit. We pray that we may respond to his call and challenge.
Penitential Rite
L: For not allowing God’s word to be fruitful and for our impatience with others and ourselves in wanting results, we ask the Lord to forgive us.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you were patient with your disciples:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you were compassionate towards the crowds:
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you keep sowing your word in every kind of soil:
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: Gracious God,
we thank you for sowing your word extravagantly in our hearts.
Even when the ground seems to others to not be good,
you continue to sow.
We pray that we might allow your seed to bear fruit,
and patiently sow it in the lives of others.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Isaiah 55:10-11
Psalm Psalm 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14
Response The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.
Reading 2 Romans 8:18-23
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower.
All who come to him will have life forever.
Gospel Matthew 13:1-23 or (short form) 13:1-9
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are part of the crowd on the shore. Listen to Jesus as he speaks to you in parables. What does he want to tell you? What sense do you make of this parable?
Sunday Snippets
“I’m leaving!” said a priest companion as he and I were vesting for the Eucharist. Before a stunned me could respond, he explained that his province was quitting a missionary area because even after thirty years of ministry, they were not seeing the fruit of their labour. They planned to relocate to places where the people were receptive.
It is frustrating to work and not see the results of our labour. Parents, educators, mentors… we’ve been there and felt it. We want to throw our hands up and say: “That’s it! I’ve had enough.”
Today’s word is addressed to those who want to quit: keep sowing because God’s word is efficacious.
Let’s situate today’s parable of the sower. The disciples are disheartened. Jesus has had very little “success”: the Pharisees are against him; the crowds come to him but only for their benefit.
Every Israelite listening to the parable could identify with every detail: some seed fell on hard ground; much of their land was limestone, and beneath a few inches of soil there was rock; the soil which looked clean could have fibrous roots of weeds. Every detail was commonplace except one: the size of the harvest! A farmer who reaped a five-fold harvest was considered fortunate; a seven-fold harvest was a bounty attributable to God’s blessing, and reason to celebrate. A thirty-fold harvest? Unheard of. Sixty-fold, hundred-fold? Impossible!
Jesus’ emphasis: when we sow God’s word, there will be miraculous success despite initial frustration.
The first reading gives us reason for confidence in an abundant harvest: just as rain inevitably brings forth fruitfulness, God’s word is efficacious.
The sower knows soils are different; he accepts that the seed will grow differently. He sows anyway; he sows everywhere.
And so we ought. In an age that looks for quick results, we need to sow the seed with patience and in hope that what we sow will, eventually, produce a harvest – even when it appears pointless, even when it appears that every inch of ground is worthless. Keep sowing the seed because God’s word is efficacious.
Will I quit or will I keep sowing?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: “My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” Do I allow God’s word to achieve its end in my life?
Reading 2: What do I think is the corruption from which creation is trying to free itself? Is there some pain involved in trying to end war, birth a cleaner environment for the planet, and establish new and better kinds of race relations? If God continually creates us moment by moment, will God help with these difficult births?
Gospel: What do/ can I do about receiving the “seed” if my soil is hard, or filled with stones and thorns?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: We bring our prayer to the Lord who sows and harvests, that people may eagerly welcome his Word and respond to its urgent call: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we may spread hope, joy, understanding, and Good News with great generosity so that all may experience the compassionate mercy of God, we pray…
R: For our leaders: that the seeds of justice may bear fruit in their hearts so that all people have their basic needs met, we pray…
R: For all who spread the Word of God – parents, teachers, writers, preachers: that they may announce God’s loving compassion faithfully and patiently, we pray…
R: For all who have closed their hearts to God: that his word, sown through people, may break through their barriers, we pray…
R: For the created world: that we may be aware of God’s revelation through the created world around us, promote respect for it, and work to protect it for future generations, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that our hearts may welcome the Word of God and be fertile soil where the seed will produce an abundant harvest of faith and charity, we pray…
L: Lord, may your word not return to you without carrying out your will in us. Having borne some fruit, may we patiently sow your word in the soil of the people around us. Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
Pray
God, our Father,
you are prodigal, generous, extravagant, and wasteful
in your love and mercy!
You are non-calculating, non-discriminating,
incredibly risk-taking, and big-hearted beyond our imagination.
Instinctually, we move to self-preservation and security;
we fear and we hoard.
We tend to work out of a sense of scarcity,
fearing always that we don't have enough,
and that we need to be careful in what we give away.
Prodigal Father,
give us a share of your abundance
to always risk a bigger heart and generosity
beyond the instinctual fear that has us believe that,
because things seem scarce, we need to be more calculating.
(based on Ron Rolheiser, “The Abundance of God as an Invitation to Generosity”)
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: Lord our God,
people hunger today
for truth, authenticity,
for the deeper meaning of life.
Open them to your Good News;
fill our stammering words with your word of life
and teach us to speak to them
a language they understand,
especially the language of hope and mercy and love.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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