Saturday of the 24th week of Ordinary Time

13I command you before God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession, 14that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which at the right time he will show, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.

1Shout for joy to the LORD, all you lands!

2Serve the LORD with gladness.

Come before his presence with singing.

3Know that the LORD, he is God.

It is he who has made us, and we are his.

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,

and into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, and bless his name.

5For the LORD is good.

His loving kindness endures forever,

his faithfulness to all generations.

4When a great multitude came together and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable: 5“The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6Some seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7Some fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8Some fell into the good ground and grew and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 9Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?” 10He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the road are those who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root. They believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation. 14What fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life; and they bring no fruit to maturity. 15Those in the good ground, these are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with perseverance.