Reflecting on the Seventh
Sunday after Pentecost

Year A

Prayer

Psalm 92

The righteous as a tree

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

to declare your steadfast love in the morning,

and your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute and the harp,

to the melody of the lyre.

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;

at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

How great are your works, O Lord!

Your thoughts are very deep!

The dullard cannot know,

the stupid cannot understand this:

though the wicked sprout like grass

and all evildoers flourish,

they are doomed to destruction forever,

but you, O Lord, are on high forever.

For your enemies, O Lord,

for your enemies shall perish;

all evildoers shall be scattered.

But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;

you have poured over me fresh oil.

My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;

my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree,

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord;

they flourish in the courts of our God.

In old age they still produce fruit;

they are always green and full of sap,

showing that the Lord is upright;

he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Proverbs 11:23-30

The fruit of righteousness

The desire of the righteous ends only in good;

the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

Some give freely, yet grow all the richer;

others withhold what is due, and only suffer want.

A generous person will be enriched,

and one who gives water will get water.

The people curse those who hold back grain,

but a blessing is on the head of those who sell it.

Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,

but evil comes to the one who searches for it.

Those who trust in their riches will wither,

but the righteous will flourish like green leaves.

Those who trouble their households will inherit wind,

and the fool will be servant to the wise.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

but violence takes lives away.

Matthew 13:10-17

The purpose of parable

Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

‘You will indeed listen, but never understand,

and you will indeed look, but never perceive.

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and their ears are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes;

so that they might not look with their eyes,

and listen with their ears,

and understand with their heart and turn—

and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.