Do not abandon me, O Lord my God, or be far from me! Come to my aid, O Lord, the strength of my salvation! (Ps 37:22ff)

 

Do not abandon me, O Lord my God, or be far from me! Come to my aid, O Lord, the strength of my salvation! (Ps 37:22ff)

The experience of faith in our daily lives cannot be improvised or neglected. We are invited to renounce ourselves in order to dedicate all our energies to the propagation of the Kingdom of God.

First Reading: Philippians 2:12-18

A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians – 12My dear friends, just as you have always been obedient, not only in my presence but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God who works in you both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. 14Do everything without complaining or grumbling, 15so that you may be blameless and blameless, children of God without blemish in this crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like the stars in the world. 16Hold fast the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I may have the glory that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17And if I am offered as a drink offering, the sacrifice of your faith, I rejoice and rejoice with you all. 18You too, rejoice and rejoice with me. – The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: 26(27)

The Lord is my light and my salvation!

1. The Lord is my light and my salvation; / of whom shall I be afraid? / The Lord is the shield of my life; / of whom shall I be afraid? – R.

2. I ask only one thing of the Lord, / and this is all I desire: / to dwell in the sanctuary of the Lord / all my life; / to taste the beauty of the Lord / and to gaze upon him in his temple. – R.

3. I know that I shall see the goodness of the Lord / in the land of the living. / Wait for the Lord and be of good courage, / wait for the Lord! – R.

Gospel: Luke 14,25-33

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are you if you are reviled for Jesus' sake, for the Spirit of God rests upon you (1 Pt 4,14). – R.

Proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke – At that time, 25large crowds followed Jesus. He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to finish it? Otherwise, 29 he will lay the foundation and not be able to finish. And everyone who sees it will begin to mock him, saying, 30 ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to fight another king, does not first sit down and consider carefully whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet the one who is marching against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he sees that he cannot, while the other king is still a long way off, he sends messengers to negotiate terms of peace. 33In the same way, therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple!” – Word of salvation.

Reflection:

Whoever accepts Jesus’ invitation to follow him must be willing to accept the proposal of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, the practice of justice and the exercise of fraternity. It is not possible to continue immersed in the demands of this world and, at the same time, be an authentic disciple of the divine Master. Everything must be weighed up, including affections related to family ties. Serving the world and following Jesus Christ are two attitudes that do not combine. It is necessary to choose and decide. The Kingdom is the priority. Living as a Christian does not consist of wearing T-shirts with the image of Jesus or marching and shouting slogans in favor of Christ. The Christian life demands deeper convictions. Otherwise, when faced with the first tribulations, the Christian denies the Master and escapes the mission field.

(Day to Day with the Gospel 2024)