ENTRANCE ANTIPHON God himself is my help. The Lord upholds my life. I will offer you a willing sacrifice; I will praise your name, O Lord, for its goodness. (Ps 53:6,8) PENITENTIAL RITE Christian communities are empowered to overcome evil on account of the baptismal graces and the continual assistance of the Holy Spirit. But the fact is that good and evil co-exist. Our communities are still not perfect communities. This fact is emphasized in today’s Gospel, in the parable of the weeds, where the farmer does not permit the weeds to be uprooted, lest the corn yielding plants be also removed in the process. For God is patient with us, and lenient in His judgement. We belong to a community of believers, that has immense potential for growth and good works. Are we ready to cooperate with God’s grace, so that everyone can produce fruits for the Kingdom of God? (Pause). I confess… Glory to God… OPENING PRAYER Lord, be merciful to your people. Fill us with your gifts and make us always eager to serve you in faith, hope, and love. Grant this… FIRST READING (God’s punishment is not proof of God’s weakness, but is intended to bring the godless to repentance. The reason given for God’s mild punishment is, that He need not render an account for what He does.) A reading from the Book of Wisdom    (12:13,16-19) There is no other God besides thee, whose care is for all men, to whom thou shouldst prove that thou hast not judged unjustly. For thy strength is the source of righteousness, and thy sovereignty over all causes thee to spare all. For thou dost show thy strength when men doubt the completeness of thy power, and dost rebuke any insolence among those who know it. Thou who art sovereign in strength dost judge with mildness, and with great forbearance thou dost govern us; for thou hast power to act whenever thou dost choose. Through such works thou hast taught thy people that the righteous man must be kind, and thou hast filled thy sons with good hope, because thou givest repentance for sins. This is the Word of the Lord PSALM   (85) Response: O Lord, you are good and forgiving. O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of love to all who call. Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my voice. All the nations shall come to adore you and glorify your name. O Lord: for you are great and do marvellous deeds, you who alone are God. But you, God of mercy and compassion, slow to anger, O Lord, abounding in love and truth, turn and take pity on me. SECOND READING (Human aspirations risk being inefficacious, because of the natural weakness of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit enables us to transcend our weak human nature.) A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Romans   (8:26-27) The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION Alleluia, alleluia! Speak, Lord, your servant hears; you have the words of eternal life. Alleluia! (1 Sam 3:9; Jn 6:68) GOSPEL (St Matthew recounts the parables of the weeds and the wheat, the mustard seed, and the yeast. The Church, and indeed the world, is like a field in which wheat and weeds grow together side by side, until they are separated at harvest time.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew     (13:24-43) Jesus put a parable before the crowd saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’.” Another parable he put before them, saying, “The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.” All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear.” The is the Gospel of the Lord PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, our world is a mixture of light and darkness, good and evil. We must struggle on, inspite of the weeds, confident that with God’s help, the good will finally triumph. With trust in Father’s love and mercy, let us pray: Response: Lord, graciously hear us. 1. For the Pope, the bishops, the priests and the religious: that they may strive to imitate and radiate the compassion and understanding of Christ. 2. For all those in authority: that they may have wisdom and understanding and patience in the exercise of their power. 3. For prisoners and victims of violence: that they may not allow themselves to be poisoned by bitterness, and that they may not see themselves worthless. Heal their inner wounds by the precious Blood of Jesus. 4. For political and religious leaders: that they may be tolerant towards others, and respect the beliefs and ideals of others. Free them from prejudice and hatred that they may sincerely search for truth and goodness. 5. For all Christians: that they may understand the truth that evil can be overcome only by good, and it is through struggle that we grow and bear fruit. (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: Merciful Father, we praise and thank you for your patience with us. Be with us in our struggle against evil and help us to produce fruits for the Kingdom of Heaven. Grant that we may also help others to grow towards what you have called them to be. We ask this… PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, bring us closer to salvation through these gifts which we bring in your honour. Accept the perfect sacrifice you have given us, bless it as you blessed the gifts of Abel. PREFACE     (P 33) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. All things are of your making, all times and seasons obey your laws, but you chose to create man in your image, setting him over the whole world in all its wonder. You made man the steward of creation, to praise you day by day for the marvels of your wisdom and power, through Jesus Christ our Lord. We praise you, Lord, with all the angels in their song of joy: All: Holy, holy, holy… COMMUNION ANTIPHON The Lord keeps in our minds the wonderful things he has done. He is compassion and love; he always provides for his faithful. (Ps 110:4-5) PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Merciful Father, may these mysteries give us new purpose and bring us to a new life in you. We ask this…     LITURGY  AND  LIFE   It was to be expected, in any cornfield, that there would be weeds, and one of the most troublesome one was that species of weed, which in its early stages, is almost indistinguishable from the young blade of corn. Nothing much could be done about it, except to wait till the plants came up and bore grain. By that time, it would be easy to identify the weeds. The farmer could pull them out when the corn was still green, but such weeds had strong roots and there was a danger of pulling up the corn as well. The other option was to leave them until the harvest, and strain them while threshing, because the seeds of the weed are poisonous. In this parable, the farmer chooses the second course, and this alone would have given Jesus a clue: do not try to separate yourselves and form a sect of holy and virtuous people. There will be time enough for this. Both the parable and its explanation point to a community that consists of both good and bad. Instead of taking immediate radical action against bad elements, the community should exercise patience and tolerance, wait for God’s judgement when evil will be decisively conquered. The parable is both realistic and optimistic. In the end good triumphs. Truth and goodness are invincible. The parable of the mustard seed contrasts insignificant beginnings with a fantastic end. The mustard seed is tiny but it grows into a shrub. As a metaphor of the kingdom of heaven the parable means that the mission of Jesus, considered as insignificant by its opponents, will ultimately triumph. The further statement, that the mustard plant will become a tree, in whose branches birds of the air can make nests, may symbolically mean that many people will find shelter in the community. Similarly the parable of the yeast alludes to the inherent power of the yeast to ferment the whole lump of dough, into which it is mixed. The Kingdom, once present in human history even if in a hidden way, cannot help but leaven the whole of it because of its characteristic active ingredients. Flour is important for bread, but without leaven there is no real bread! Its power is needed above all. The parables of the mustard seed and the leaven illustrate the present small beginnings of the Kingdom and its great future by using examples of extraordinary growth. The Pharisees believed that the Kingdom was for saints only; sinners therefore should be ruthlessly weeded out. But Christ didn’t agree with this as the parable of the weeds shows. The main point of the parable is clear: up to the last judgement, the Kingdom will be a mixed bag of good and evil. The definitive elimination or separation has to be left to a future and final judgement by the Son of Man. While we distinguish clearly between good and evil, we must aim at being as understanding and tolerant as God is. The time for judgement is not yet come. The Kingdom of God is still at the growing stage. Now is the time for conversion. God is merciful and patient with us, He waits for our repentance. —Fr Augustine Kanachikuzhy, ssp   July 2011                        READINGS  OF  THE  WEEK                  Psalter Week 4 18 Mon (G) Ex 14:5-18/ Ex 15:1bc-2.3-4.5-6/ Mt 12:38-42 19 Tue (G) Ex 14:21—15:1/ps Ex 15:8-9,10&12,17/ Mt 12:46-50 20 Wed (R) St Apollinarius, Ex 16:1-5.9-15/ Ps 78:18-19.23-24.25-26.27-28/ Mt 13:1-9 21 Thu (w) St Lawrence of Brindisi, Ex 19:1-2.9-11.16-20b/ Dn 3:52.53.54.55.56/ Mt 13:10-17 22 Fri (w) St Mary Magdalene, Ex 20:1-17/ Ps 19:8.9. 10. 11/ Jn 20:1-2.11-18 23 Sat (w) St Bridget of Sweden, Ex 24:3-8/ Ps 50:1b-2.5-6.14-15/ Mt 13:24-30