September 19, 2020

Reading

The Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians    15: 35-37, 42-49

15:35	But someone may say, “How do the dead rise again?” or, “What type of body do they return with?”
15:36	How foolish! What you sow cannot be brought back to life, unless it first dies.
15:37	And what you sow is not the body that will be in the future, but a bare grain, such as of wheat, or of some other grain.
15:42	So it is also with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown in corruption shall rise to incorruption.
15:43	What is sown in dishonor shall rise to glory. What is sown in weakness shall rise to power.
15:44	What is sown with an animal body shall rise with a spiritual body. If there is an animal body, there is also a spiritual one.
15:45	Just as it was written that the first man, Adam, was made with a living soul, so shall the last Adam be made with a spirit brought back to life.
15:46	So what is, at first, not spiritual, but animal, next becomes spiritual.
15:47	The first man, being earthly, was of the earth; the second man, being heavenly, will be of heaven.
15:48	Such things as are like the earth are earthly; and such things as are like the heavens are heavenly.
15:49	And so, just as we have carried the image of what is earthly, let us also carry the image of what is heavenly.

Gospel

The Holy Gospel According to Luke    8: 4-15

8:4	Then, when a very numerous crowd was gathering together and hurrying from the cities to him, he spoke using a comparison:
8:5	“The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the way; and it was trampled and the birds of the air devoured it.
8:6	And some fell upon rock; and having sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
8:7	And some fell among thorns; and the thorns, rising up with it, suffocated it.
8:8	And some fell upon good soil; and having sprung up, it produced fruit one hundredfold.” As he said these things, he cried out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
8:9	Then his disciples questioned him as to what this parable might mean.
8:10	And he said to them: “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to the rest, it is in parables, so that: seeing, they may not perceive, and hearing, they may not understand.
8:11	Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
8:12	And those beside the way are those who hear it, but then the devil comes and takes the word from their heart, lest by believing it they may be saved.
8:13	Now those upon rock are those who, when they hear it, accept the word with joy, but these have no roots. So they believe for a time, but in a time of testing, they fall away.
8:14	And those which fell among thorns are those who have heard it, but as they go along, they are suffocated by the concerns and riches and pleasures of this life, and so they do not yield fruit.
8:15	But those which were on good soil are those who, upon hearing the word with a good and noble heart, retain it, and they bring forth fruit in patience.