Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Know Your Commitment
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. The task of the disciple is double, says St Paul: Let God do his work in you, and bear witness to the world. If they can do that, the work of Paul among them will not have been in vain.
Gospel. Jesus stresses that Christians must follow Jesus radically, consistently. They must know what they are doing. They may not stop halfway, but must look ahead. They must take their Christianity seriously.
Opening Prayer
God our Father,
we have accepted your invitation
to follow your Son Jesus as his disciples.
We do not know what the future has in store
yet we are willing to live in hope and joy
without fear or discouragement
Give us the strength of your Spirit
to take our faith seriously
and to accept our task in life
with all its consequences.
For we are certain Jesus will lead us to you,
our loving God for ever and ever.
First Reading
Therefore, my dearest friends, just as you always obeyed me when I was with you, even more now that I am far away, keep working out your salvation with fear and trembling.
It is God who makes you want to do what pleases Him and gives you the power to carry it out.
Do everything without grumbling,
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation.
You shine like stars in the universe, holding fast to the word of life. I will be proud of you on the day of Christ, knowing that my work and effort have not been wasted.
And if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share your joy;
and you should also rejoice and share my joy.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you,
for the Spirit of God rests upon you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
One day, as large crowds were walking with Jesus, he turned and said to them,
“If you come to me, unwilling to sacrifice your love for your father and mother, your spouse and children, your brothers and sisters and indeed yourself, you cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not follow me, carrying his own cross, cannot be my disciple.
Do you start building a house without first sitting down to count the cost to see if you have enough to finish it?
Otherwise, if you’ve laid the foundation and can’t complete it, everyone will laugh at you:
‘This fellow started to build and was not able to finish.’
And when a king wages war against another king, does he not first sit down to consider whether his ten thousand can stand against the twenty thousand of his opponent?
And if not, while the other is still a long way off, he sends messengers to arrange peace negotiations.
In the same way, none of you may become my disciple if he does not give up everything he has.
Prayers of the Faithful
– For all those who are seeking God with a sincere heart, that they may find him and do generously what God wants them to do, we pray:
– For those called by the Lord to special ministries of service in the community, that they may put no limits to their generosity, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may be disciples of Jesus our Lord and follow him resolutely, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these gifts of bread and wine
we bring ourselves before you
and you let your Son give himself to us.
May we learn from him
to make ourselves free
for people and for you
and to seek your will in all we do.
May we follow your Son
in his trials and in his glory,
now and forever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
in this eucharist you have enlightened us
with the word and the wisdom of your Son
and let him give us his bread of strength
to make us follow him without hesitation.
Fill us with the wisdom and strength of your Spirit
to go with Jesus
through the desert of pain and the cross
for the sake of bringing life and joy
to our brothers and sisters in need
and for giving glory to you,
our God forever and ever.
Blessing
We don’t love crosses and trials and we do not have to. But we love Jesus and he loves us. He says: if you love me, follow me, also when the road is rough, when our integrity as Christians demands sacrifices. May almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
God alone suffice
Luke 14:25-33
To be like God is to act like God. Jesus reveals what God is like through his self-emptying. He calls us as disciples to follow the same path.
We plan to fail when we fail to plan. Beloved, the beauty of a building is the strength of its foundation. If the edifice of life is to be beautiful, it must be well founded on God. So it is, neither relationships nor possessions but only God who sustains us to the end in an uncertain life. He is our foundation. Because this discipleship that takes shape in us is planted by God and we are fully submerged in Him alone.
While a dead fish moves effortlessly along the current, swimming against the current is the sign that the fish is alive. On encountering strong winds or slightly changing weather conditions, all the birds fly towards their nests, except the eagle, because no nesting bird is spared from the weather except the high-flying eagle. Our lively discipleship demands to us like the fish and the eagle to break all ties and chains of earthly life in all forms.
Birth and death are beyond our control but what we make of the space between these proves whether they are mere events or epochs. There is someone in the world who is achieving those that we think are impossible. Discipleship is a heroic act, possible only for those who dare and choose the truth for themselves responsibly. Such total dedication is the fruit of undivided love for Christ and His people.
The journey of discipleship is not to stand on top of the world but to dwell in God’s love. The love of God makes one brave and a brave dies only once but a coward dies every second of his life. Knowing this, St. Paul says in Philippians 1:21 To me life is Christ, and death is gain.
To uphold love as the supreme good in life will urge us in the midst of adversity. Therefore, since God is the source of all good and faith, love for God and neighbour should rule the hearts of those who follow Him. Therefore, prioritizing God’s love in discipleship is not a choice but a way of life. God who began the loving discipleship in us will reach it to completion.