DAILY- HOMILY

November 4, 2015 WEDNESDAY, 31ST Week in Ordinary Time

St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop 

Memorial, White

Rom 13:8 – 10 / Lk 14:25 – 33

[St. Charles Borromeo (1538 – 1584), who became archbishop of Milan (1564 – 1584), played a key role in the Catholic Counter-Reformation of the late sixteenth century, especially in his founding of seminaries for improved formation and training of priests.]

Reading: Rom 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.

Gospel: Lk 14:25 - 33

     One day, when large crowds were walking along 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 does not give up everything he has."

Reflection:

     Today's Gospel reading stresses two key aspects of the following of Christ: first, "Whoever does not follow me carrying his own cross cannot be my disciple," and secondly, "none of you may become my disciple if he does not give up everything he has."

     In essence both these statements affirm the love, generosity and trust needed to be a true follower of Christ. A true follower of Christ follows the lead and example of Christ the leader and master: of the Christ who carried his cross and died on the cross for our sake, of the Christ who gave up the majesty and power of his divinity to become man, like us in all things, except sin.

     If we truly learn to carry our cross, whatever it may be, be it a person or a difficult situation or tragedy, we are closer to the Lord.  If we learn to accept hardship and suffering because Jesus endured hardship and suffering for us, we show that we are true followers of Jesus. We hope we could also be of help to others in carrying and managing their own crosses.

     The following of Jesus means putting him and his concerns first and foremost above our own concerns and very selves: this is the courage and generosity of giving up everything we have for the sake of Jesus and his kingdom.

     To be true followers of Christ all Christians are called to put him first, to "give up everything for Christ's sake."

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     ANDREW PATRICK C. SYLING

     JEZZA MARIE L. AMPLER

     PABLO CRUZ JR.

     SR. LEONILA STEWART, MIC

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     CHAN KET MIN

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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