“WHOEVER DOES NOT FOLLOW ME, CARRYING HIS OWN CROSS, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.”

there are many of us who strive to follow Jesus get weakened in the face of our life’s crosses.

God won’t give us what we can’t bear. Besides, are the sacrifices demanded of us more than his,

who gave up everything for our sake?

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Romans 13:8-10

Do not be in debt to anyone.

The sabbath day Christ would not forbear doing good,

though he knews the Pharisees would carp and cavil at it,

nor omit any opportunity of helping and healing the distressed

calumniate and reproach him for it; it being the constant guise of hypocrites,

to prefer ceremonial and ritual observation, before necessary and moral duties.

 St. Martin de Porres, religious

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Romans 9:1-5

I tell you sincerely,

 “HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO EAT AT THE BAQUET IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD!”

One after another, the guests made excuses for not coming.

When the master of the house heard these flimsy excuses, he was angry.

He told his servant to forget the guest list and go into the back streets and alleyways of the town

and invite “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame”

All are invited do this celebration where they can enjoy the King’s generosity.

This is the Good News proclaimed by Jesus.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Romans 12:5-16ab

The same with us;

 Death is but a passage to life, to the real life where all of us are destined to reach.

Today we pray for all of those who have gone ahead of us in death,

that through God’s mercy they will receive the reward of eternal life with him.

We pray for ourselves too that when our time comes, we will share in the same reward. 

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

The souls of the just are in the hands of God

 Love means giving without expectations, that there is more happiness in giving than in receiving.

we receive from the heavens above are not really meant just for us.

The blessings that we receive shall be shared to those who are in need.

We are just the instruments of God.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Romans 11:29-36 

The call of God, and his gifts,

 They are the ones who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, those who have remained faithful under trial,

who, like Christ, have offered their lives for truth, justice, charity, and peace.

Each of us challenges us to desire to become Saints, for only by being Saints can we be counted amongst the Saved!

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14

I saw another angel,

 Jesus' disciples are not to seek honourable titles like 'father' and 'teacher' and 'rabbi'.

Our teacher is God, and the true disciples learns only from God.

Jesus calls on his followers to be humble. Our church is to be a humble church. 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10 

Cursed be the cheater,

God and His kingdom often follow the dynamics of the mustard seed and the yeast in today’s gospel parables:

small, subtle, almost invisible; but they keep transforming the world around.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel”

“I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Romans 8:18-25

I consider that the suffering of

 The jockeying for the position of honor is evident.

This preoccupation for the choice seats happens too with Jesus’ own disciples, James and John.

Their mother tries to intervene for them so they would have the preferred places in seating order in the kingdom of Jesus,

one on his right and the other on his left.

We must not boast our position and must always settle

at the bottom which will in turn protect our dignity and nourish the humbleness inside us.

St. Charles Borromeo, bishop

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

 Romans 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29

And so I ask:

An old woman as bent-over, She is bent-over double, crippled and unable to stand up straight or look people in the eye.

Yet Jesus sees her and decides to free her from her affliction. On the day she least expects, God visits her and heals her.

No Sabbath could stop the goodness of God pouring on His people. 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Romans 8:12-17

30TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Then, brothers,