July 12, 2026
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this weeks' readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this weeks' readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
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I’ve never been pregnant, and so I’ve never experienced childbirth. At least not from a maternal perspective. The closest I’ve come was when my younger sister was giving birth to the first of my two nieces on Firs Holy Communion Day in 2008. Throughout that long day I received texts from the hospital with updates on her progress. The last message came around midnight, when I was exhausted after Masses and family celebrations: “Sarah has a high temperature and is on antibiotics.”
You can imagine my anxiety as I went to bed, though I know it was only a fraction of what my sister and brother-in-law were going through. The next morning, I woke to another message: Sarah had given birth to a baby girl, and both were doing well. Relief, gratitude, and joy followed the night of anxiety.
In today’s second reading, St Paul speaks of the whole of creation constantly coming into being, “groaning in one great act of giving birth.” All around us, and within us, the world is unfinished, still being shaped. Childbirth may be natural, but it is not without struggle, patience, and pain. The same is true of growth in faith. Creation needs time, and it needs cooperation, and we are part of that Creation.
Jesus uses a similar image in the Gospel today when he speaks of the sower and the seed. A seed growing into a flourishing plant is doing what comes naturally. Yet it needs the right conditions along the way. Human growth is like that too. We unfold and develop, but obstacles can frustrate that growth if we are not attentive.
Life’s worries can choke us, like seed caught among thorns. Sometimes complacency sets in. We think we’ve arrived and no longer need to grow, like seed on shallow soil. Or unhealthy desires can distract us, like seed carried off by birds. And yet, within each of us is the natural capacity to become more fully human and more deeply spiritual.
Faith invites us to love more generously, to forgive more freely, to pray, to ask deeper questions: Who am I? Where am I going? What does it mean to love? What does it mean to trust God? How sad if we settle for less, if our horizons shrink. Growth is always imperfect and often uncomfortable, but God continues to invite us to be fruitful.
This is not automatic. It requires our cooperation. God gives us the sacraments to sustain us, the Christian community to support us, and his Spirit to guide us. Sometimes growth asks us to let go of something, or to take something on. There may be struggle, even groaning, but there is joy too, because God is at work.
So never give up hope. Never give up on the seeds planted within you by Christ the Sower. Prepare the soil of your heart. Make space for stillness and silence. Open the scriptures. Speak honestly to God about your joys and fears. Trust that his word does not return empty, but quietly, patiently, brings life and growth, often in ways we only see much later.
The Gospel reading might lend itself to development in the Intercessions for example:
Priest:
We have heard Jesus telling the parable of the sower let us pray for all those who hear the word of the Kingdom.
Reader:
We remember all those who hear the Word of God in various ways but who are unable to understand its meaning. We pray that there may be those who can help them on the way of understanding. (Pause for silent prayer.) Lord, in your mercy.
People: Hear our prayer.
Reader:
We pray for those who hearing the Word of God are attracted by it but find it difficult to commit themselves and to allow the Word to take root in their hearts.
(Pause etc.)
Reader:
We remember those who, although they hear the Word of God in their hearts are too attached to the material things of this world to open their hearts so that it may change their lives.
(Pause etc.)
Reader:
We pray for those who do welcome the Word of God into their hearts that they may understand it fully and accept the demands that it will make of them so that their lives may yield a harvest in a life lived in love.
(Pause etc.)
Reader:
Lastly we pray for ourselves
that we may always be open to hear the Word God
in the many different ways in which it comes to us and that we may have the strength and courage to respond to it generously.
(Pause etc.)
Reader:
Mary kept the Word of God and pondered in her heart. May she inspire to follow her example.
People: Hail Mary ...
Priest:
Merciful God, you are the bounteous sower always at work planting your Word in the hearts of your children. Through the power of your Spirit may that Word bear a rich harvest of lives lived generously and lovingly. We ask this through him who is the Word he who lives for ever and ever.
People: Amen.
God is working his purpose out (CFE217, L86)
There's a wideness in God's mercy (L810)
Bring forth the kingdom (CFE821, L854)
Praise to you, O Christ our Saviour (CFE416, L200)
Key
CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone
L – Laudate
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
