First Reading

Reading from the letter of the Apostle Saint Paul to the Philippians

Philippians 2, 12-18

Dear brothers and sisters: Just as you have always obeyed me when I have been present among you, with even greater reason obey me now that I am absent. Continue working out your salvation with humility and fear of God, for he is the one who gives you inner energy so that you may will and act according to his will.

Do everything without complaints or arguments, so that you may be children of God, blameless, sincere and without stain, in the midst of the evil and perverse people of this time. Among them you will shine like torches in the world, by presenting them with the words of life. Thus, on the day of Christ’s coming, I will feel proud to see that my efforts and labors have not been in vain. And even if I had to shed my blood so that you may continue to offer to God the sacred offering of your life of faith, I would feel happy and rejoice with all of you. And you, for your part, rejoice and be glad with me.

Gospel

Reading from the holy Gospel according to Saint Luke

Luke 14, 25-33

At that time, a large crowd was walking with Jesus, and he, turning to his disciples, said to them:

“If anyone wishes to follow me and does not prefer me to his father and mother, to his wife and children, to his brothers and sisters, and even more, to himself, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

For which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down to calculate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after laying the foundation, he may not be able to finish it, and all who see it will begin to mock him, saying: ‘This man began to build and could not finish.’

Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not first sit down to consider whether he is able with ten thousand soldiers to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far away, he will send an embassy to ask for terms of peace.

So therefore, none of you can be my disciple unless you give up all your possessions.”