Daily Gospel

The disciples approached Jesus and said,“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?”He said to them in reply,“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heavenhas been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.This is why I speak to them in parables, becausethey look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not understand,you shall indeed look but never see.Gross is the heart of this people,they will hardly hear with their ears,they have closed their eyes,lest they see with their eyesand hear with their earsand understand with their hearts and be convertedand I heal them.
“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,and your ears, because they hear.Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous peoplelonged to see what you see but did not see it,and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

On the first day of the week,Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning,while it was still dark,and saw the stone removed from the tomb.So she ran and went to Simon Peterand to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,"They have taken the Lord from the tomb,and we don't know where they put him."Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.And as she wept, she bent over into the tomband saw two angels in white sitting there,one at the head and one at the feetwhere the Body of Jesus had been.And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,and I don't know where they laid him."When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,but did not know it was Jesus.Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?Whom are you looking for?"She thought it was the gardener and said to him,"Sir, if you carried him away,tell me where you laid him,and I will take him."Jesus said to her, "Mary!"She turned and said to him in Hebrew,"Rabbouni," which means Teacher.Jesus said to her,"Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.But go to my brothers and tell them,'I am going to my Father and your Father,to my God and your God.'"Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,"I have seen the Lord,"and then reported what he told her.

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,his mother and his brothers appeared outside,wishing to speak with him.Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,asking to speak with you.”But he said in reply to the one who told him,“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,“Here are my mother and my brothers.For whoever does the will of my heavenly Fatheris my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”He said to them in reply,“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,but no sign will be given itexcept the sign of Jonah the prophet.Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earththree days and three nights.At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generationand condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;and there is something greater than Jonah here.At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generationand condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earthto hear the wisdom of Solomon;and there is something greater than Solomon here.”

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying:"The kingdom of heaven may be likenedto a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy cameand sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said,'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?'He answered, 'An enemy has done this.'His slaves said to him,'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weedsyou might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest;then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,"First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;but gather the wheat into my barn."'"He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seedthat a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds,yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush,and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"He spoke to them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeastthat a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flouruntil the whole batch was leavened."All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables,to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:I will open my mouth in parables,I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundationof the world.Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said,"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,and the enemy who sows them is the devil.The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels,and they will collect out of his kingdomall who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace,where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesusto put him to death.When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.Many people followed him, and he cured them all,but he warned them not to make him known.This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,my beloved in whom I delight;I shall place my Spirit upon him,and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.He will not contend or cry out,nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.A bruised reed he will not break,a smoldering wick he will not quench,until he brings justice to victory.And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.His disciples were hungryand began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."He said to them, "Have you not read what David didwhen he and his companions were hungry,how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,which neither he nor his companionsbut only the priests could lawfully eat?Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbaththe priests serving in the temple violate the sabbathand are innocent?I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,you would not have condemned these innocent men.For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

Jesus said:"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,for I am meek and humble of heart;and you will find rest for yourselves.For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,for although you have hidden these thingsfrom the wise and the learnedyou have revealed them to the childlike.Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.All things have been handed over to me by my Father.No one knows the Son except the Father,and no one knows the Father except the Sonand anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Jesus began to reproach the townswhere most of his mighty deeds had been done,since they had not repented.“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!For if the mighty deeds done in your midsthad been done in Tyre and Sidon,they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.But I tell you, it will be more tolerablefor Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.And as for you, Capernaum:Will you be exalted to heaven?You will go down to the nether world.For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,it would have remained until this day.But I tell you, it will be more tolerablefor the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”