St. Lawrence of Brindisi, priest & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15

The Israelites left Elim

And the entire community reached the desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving Egypt.  In the desert the whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of Yahweh in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of  meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!”

Yahweh then said to Moses, “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the peo­ple are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way I will test them to see if they will follow my Tea­ching or not. On the sixth day when they prepare what they have brought in, they will find that there is twice as much as they gather each day.”

Then Moses directed Aaron to say to the whole community of Israel, “Draw near to Yahweh for he has heard your complaints.”  It happened that as Aaron was speak­ing to the full assembly of Israel, they turned towards the desert and saw the Glory of Yahweh in the midst of the cloud.

 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “I have heard the complaints of Israel. Speak to them and say: Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content; then you shall know that I am Yahweh, your God!”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morn­ing, dew had fallen around the camp. When the dew lifted, there was on the surface of the desert a thin crust like hoarfrost. The people of Israel upon seeing it said to one another, “What is it?” for they didn’t know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread that Yahweh has given you to eat.”

 

Ps 78:18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28

The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊  

Matthew 13:1-9

 That same day Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside. As many people gathered around him, he got in a boat. There he sat while the whole crowd stood on the shore,   and he spoke to them in parables about many things.

Jesus said, “The sower went out to sow and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and ate them up.   Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was not deep.   But as soon the sun rose the plants were scorched and withered because they had no roots.  

 Again other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants.   Still other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop; some produced a hundredfold, others sixty and others thirty.   If you have ears, then hear!”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Many people listen and receive God’s word, but its effect in their lives vary. For it is not only the mere act of listening that is important. The quality of the heart of the listener and his or her capacity to receive God’s word matters. It starts with the actual hearing of the word.

But sometimes we hear but do not understand. The word of God falls on sterile grounds. It could not bear fruit. It can also be choked and stifled by our many concerns. It might be the recordings in our mind that continuously play thus preoccupying our attention. It can be our fears, our worries and our activities.

That is why it pays to be mindful of these things that occupy our minds. In knowing them, we could get rid of them and allow the word to be our main preoccupation in life. This in turn will make us fruitful hearers of God’s word because it will have the power to direct our lives to do God’s will.