Bible Diary

Daily Reading

St Charles Borromeo

LECTIONARY
487

FIRST READING

Phil 2:12-18

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

PSALM

PS 27:1, 4, 13-14

Response: The LORD is my light and my salvation

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

GOSPEL

Lk 14:25-33

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Daily Reflection

The parable that precedes today’s Gospel text, is that of an open invitation to a feast. And just in case one may be so naïve as to believe that accepting the invitation is all that is required to enter the Kingdom of God, Jesus clarifies. But His words sound rather confusing. How can the very person who challenges us to love even our enemy, now ask us hate our own family, if we are to follow Him?

In the original Aramaic, from where his translation originates, there are no comparatives! So the word for “hate”, that Jesus may have used, would correctly translate as “to love less” in the English language! And while in the previous parable, we are told that property, work, things may take priority over God’s invitation, here Jesus goes on to say that, often, even the persons we love and are attached to, may become our priority over God.

Charles Borromeo, the saint and bishop we honour today, played a major role in the Counter-Reformation. He believed that to avoid losing focus, it was imperative that we keep ourselves always in the presence of the Divine!