Wednesday 29th JANUARY

by | Jan 28, 2025 | Evangelium

Saints Sarbelius & Barbea

Psalter: Week III

Green

Two martyrs, brother and sister, who were put to death at Edessa during the persecutions of Emperor Trajan. Sarbelius, also called Sharbel, was a high priest at Edessa, in Mesopotamia.

Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 95: 1, 6    

O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In his presence are majesty and splendour, strength and honour in his holy place.

Collect  

Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

First reading: Hebrews 10:11-18

All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place forever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for him. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying. The Holy Spirit assures us of this; for he says, first: This is the covenant I will make with them when those days arrive; and the Lord then goes on to say: I will put my laws into their hearts and write them on their minds. I will never call their sins to mind, or their offences. When all sins have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.

Responsorial Psalms: Psalm 109(110):1-4

R/ You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

The Lord’s revelation to my Master: ‘Sit on my right: your foes I will put beneath your feet.’

The Lord will wield from Zion your sceptre of power: rule in the midst of all your foes.

A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains; from the womb before the dawn I begot you.

The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change. ‘You are a priest for ever,  a priest like Melchizedek of old.’

Gospel Acclamation: 1S3:9,Jn6:68  

Alleluia, alleluia! Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia!

Gospel: Mark 4:1-20           

Jesus began to teach by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The people were all along the shore, at the water’s edge. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen! Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’ When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and be forgiven.’  He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them. Similarly, those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, they fall away at once. Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

Prayer over the Offerings  

Accept our offerings, O Lord, we pray, and in sanctifying them grant that they may profit us for salvation. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 33: 6 

Look toward the Lord and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed.

Prayer after Communion  

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, receiving the grace by which you bring us to new life we may always glory in your gift. Through Christ our Lord.

Meditation

Jesus uses parables as a distinctive method of preaching, gradually unveiling the mysteries of the Kingdom of God to his listeners. In the Gospel, he uses the parable of the sower to encourage his listeners to open their hearts generously to the word of God and to put it into action. Similar to the sower scattering seeds, God extends His graces to all, regardless of wealth, education, courage, or fear. He sows His seed in us today and invites us to spread his word by teaching and exemplifying it in our personal lives. The efficacy of His word lies in its ability to inspire dedication and fidelity in many souls. The Gospel shines a light on the rich soil, which is the receptive heart that nurtures the seed with openness and care. In such a heart, the word takes root, grows deep, and bears fruit – some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold. Those fortunate enough to receive the seed in the rich soil of our souls bear the obligation to illuminate the path of Christ’s truth to our brothers and sisters who have fallen by the roadside in their faith. They represent the seed — the word of God — that has failed to find fertile soil to sprout and bear fruit. Through our prayers, we can help cultivate the barren soil and restore its fertility.