St. Martin de Porres, religious 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Romans 13:8-10

 Do not be in debt to anyone.

Let this be the only debt of one to another: Love. The one who loves his or her neigh­bor fulfilled the Law.  For the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not covet and whatever else are summarized in this one: You will love your neighbor as yourself.   Love cannot do the neighbor any harm; so love fulfills the whole Law.

 

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

Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.

 

＊＊＊＊ 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, without being ready to give up 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：

Before embarking on a construction project, we need a good feasibility study so that an intelligent cost analysis can be made, and one can calculate the money that must be prepared to finish the project.

The same thing is true with the following of the Lord. We should make deeper reflections in order to calculate the cost of discipleship. The specifications are out: “If you want to follow me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). And so discipleship is a costly project.

We have to know if we can afford it in advance or whether we are willing to pay the price once we embrace it. Our fists were closed when we were born into this world. There is a certain selfishness and self-centeredness within us. We are not naturally disposed to deny ourselves.

But Christ promises an easy yoke to those willing to do so (Matthew 11:29). But let us be aware that Jesus only assures us of the ease and lightness of his yoke. The assurance does not include immunity from problems. Nevertheless it is good enough. Everything is light and easy because of his grace.