Wednesday November 3

THIRTIETH-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 

KNOW YOUR COMMITMENT

 

Introduction

      St. Augustine said: “Love and do what you want,” not to declare that in the name of love anything goes, but that if we truly love, then, we are ready to give our all to God and our neighbor. We will know what is right. And when love is no longer authentic, we will know too, and do what is to be done to remain faithful. This genuine love must be ready to follow Jesus without reservations.

      Jesus stresses that Christians must follow Jesus radically and 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.

 

Reading 1: Rom 13:8-10

Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill;
you shall not steal;
you shall not covet,
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 112:1b-2, 4-5, 9

(5a) Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He dawns through the darkness, a light for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his generosity shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Alleluia: 1 Pt 4:14

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: Lk 14:25-33

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”

 

Intercessions

–   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 for ever.

 

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, for ever 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.

 

Commentary

When Jesus speaks of “hating” family members and ones own life, he is using a typical form of exaggeration in the interests of emphasis. We know well that any form of hatred of others is excluded in Christ’s ethic. What is true is that the pain of separation will be part of the disciple’s adherence to Jesus. It is as inescapable as is cross bearing. In discipleship one must persevere and stay the course. Therefore, it pays to weigh the likely consequences before undertaking the task. It is much the same as constructing a tower or waging a war. Without preliminary planning, one may easily find oneself unequal to the task of successful completion.

Paul can readily say that love is the fulfillment of the law. Christ himself has placed love as the foremost of die command­ments. The commandments of the Decalogue—against, for exam­ple, adultery, murder, or theft—are all rooted in love of neighbor. In short, if one places the love of neighbor at the center of one’s life, other elements of true Christian living will follow.

It is unfortunate that we attach gravity to many sins but brush violations of charity off as being insignificant. There is no virtue that the scriptures treat that even approximates the importance of love. When we think of the harm that is done and the pain inflicted by unkind speech and action, we realize that such actions carry considerable weight. In building our tower or waging our war, an ongoing and patient assessment is always necessary.

 

Points to Ponder

The love of Christ surpasses any human love

Perseverance to the end

Love as the fulfillment of the law.