16ᵗʰ Sunday  Good News Translation 

FIRST READING (Wisdom 12:13, 16-19)

“You give repentance for sins.”

A reading from the Book of Wisdom

All things are under your care, and there is no other god to whom you must justify your decisions.

Your strength is the source of justice. You can show mercy to everyone, because you are the Lord of all. You show your strength when people doubt that your power is perfect, and you punish anyone who knows your power but dares to ignore it.

Even though you have absolute power, you are a merciful judge. You could take action against us whenever you like, but instead, you rule us with great patience. By the things you have done you have taught your people that a person who is righteous must also be kind. You have given your people abundant hope by allowing them to repent of their sins.

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SECOND READING (Romans 8:26–27) 

“The Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.”

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans  

Brethren:

In the same way, the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. We do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people(Saints) and in accordance with his will. 

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GOSPEL (Matthew 13:24-43)

“Let both grow together until the harvest.”  

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew  

That that time Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field. One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up. The man's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘It was some enemy who did this.’ They asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.’”

Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches.”

Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”

Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable. He did this to make come true what the prophet had said: “I will use parables when I speak to them; I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world.”

When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, “Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means.” Jesus answered, “The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One; and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age: the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things, and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth. Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Listen, then, if you have ears!”

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