"IF A TINY SPARK OF GOD'S LOVE ALREADY BURNS HIN YOU,

DO NOT EXPOSE IT TO THE WIND, FOR IT MAY GET BLOWN OUT... STAY QUIET WITH GOD."

                                                   - Saint Charles Borromeo

 

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

Philippians 2:12-18

Therefore, my dearest friends,

As you always obeyed me while I was with you, even more, now that I am far from you,

continue working out your salvation "with fear and trembling."

It is God who makes you, not only wish but also, carry out what pleases him.

Do everything without grumbling, so that without fault or blame, you will be children of God,

without reproach, among a crooked and perverse generation. You are a light among them,

like stars in the universe, holding to the word of life. I shall feel proud of you, on the day of Christ,

on seeing that my effort and labor have not been in vain. And if I am being poured out,

as a libation over the sacrifice, and the offering of your faith,

I rejoice and continue to share your joy; and, you, likewise should rejoice and share my joy.

 

Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14

The Lord is my light and my salvation,

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 14:25-33

One day, when large crowds were walking along 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 build a house without first sitting down to count the cost, to see whether you have enough to complete it?

 

Otherwise, if you have laid the foundation and are not able to finish it,

everyone will make fun of you: 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish. '

And when a king wages war against another king, does he go to fight without first sitting 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 for peace talks. In the same way,

none of you may become my disciple if he doesn't give up everything he has.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

Discipleship entails detachment.

Jesus repeats what he asks when someone wishes to follow him – detachment.

Discipleship entails detachment not for the sake of being freed from responsibilities but for us

to be more attached to Jesus, who invites us to carry our crosses just as he did.

It requires a sincere weighing of whether we truly mean what we intend.

St. Alphonsus teaches that when a person follows the Lord, that person has to be detached

from inordinate affections driven by the self and not by God.

 

Hence, being detached is about dying to oneself so that what remains is what God desires.

We are inspired by God's desire to give ourselves in the way Jesus has given himself to all.

Of course, given our human frailty, one cannot deny the difficulties that this entails.

However, this invitation of Christ gradually draws us to him and does not abruptly demand.

It carries us through at the pace that God wants us to take.