I have a friend from the singles ministry that society may call a “hardcore Catholic.” She goes to confession almost every week, wears a veil during Mass, fasts even when it’s not Lent, and has a collection of religious items. There’s a part of me that thinks, “Isn’t that a bit much, Lord?” But you’d do all those for the one you love, right? 

So I asked, “Is what I do enough and pleasing to the Lord?” After all, He has shown me the greatest kind of love by laying down His life.

What Jesus did for me can never compare to wearing a veil in church or going to Mass and confession often.

I am reminded that I can never have too much of Jesus because He gave His entirety to me. So I hope to reciprocate it in my own little way.

Thankfully, Jesus doesn’t ask for much. Just our open hearts. May every day be a reminder for us to be unashamedly in love with Jesus! 

Jewelle Q. Villarisco (villarisco.jewelle@gmail.com)

reflect

“Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God.” (Jim Elliot)

Jesus, thank You for not holding Yourself back from fully loving me. Help me do the same for You and my neighbors. Amen.

St. Charles Borromeo, bishop, pray for us.

Paul reminds us that innocence can be restored through the grace of God. Let us trust in the transforming power of the Gospel and immerse ourselves in its grace. When we set aside our own agendas and embrace God’s will, we can overcome sin and be healed from its effects. May we surrender our hurts and sufferings to the Lord.

¹² My beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³ For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work. ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or questioning, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, ¹⁶ as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. ¹⁷ But, even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. ¹⁸ In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14

R: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

1 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) 4 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) 13 I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord. (R)

Gospel | Luke 14:25-33

Jesus does not want us to hate anyone—least of all our own family. In today’s Gospel, He uses exaggeration to emphasize that the knowledge and experience of God’s saving power cannot be compared to anything we can earn or produce. Salvation is a gift that comes from God, and we are called to receive it with humble gratitude. Paul experienced God’s power to transform his life. Let us pray that we, too, may encounter that same power and grace.

Gospel Acclamation

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of God rests upon you.

²⁵ Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, ²⁶ “If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? ²⁹ Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him ³⁰ and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? ³² But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. ³³ In the same way, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Reflect

“We remain firmly convinced that the family is a gift of God, the place where He reveals the power of His saving grace.” (Pope Francis)

Read the Bible in one year! Read ISAIAH 53 - 56 today.

I recently had the chance to ride in one of those modern self-driving cars—or self-parking, actually. Very amazing but scary at the same time. I just can’t entrust myself totally to these modern technologies. In fact, I still rely more on my own faltering memory to get to my destination than on Waze or Google Maps.

For so long, we have been driving our lives on our own, unmindful of God. We trust and rely more on Google for information than knowledge, Waze for directions and destinations than journey, Facebook and other social media apps for lifestyle and trends than life itself.

We grumble or question God when His words and teachings disrupt our activities and inclinations. Our First Reading reminds us: “For God is the one who, for His good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work. Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God. . . .”

It has been more than five years since the COVID-19 pandemic, when we felt so helpless before God, begging His mercy and deliverance from the virus that had kept the world at a standstill. That was also the time when, with all the technologies and amenities of modern life, we have become empty, lost, and divided as a people. How sad that we are now back in our old ways of trusting ourselves more than God.

In this time of great trouble and uncertainty, let us go back to God. For without Him at the center of our lives and endeavors, nothing good can truly happen. Only He knows what is best for us. And like St. Charles Borromeo, who led in reforming the Church and Her clergy at the Council of Trent after the Protestant movement, let us go back to God in prayer and daily conversion as well as in the serious study of our faith.

Fr. Nick Lalog

reflection question

Who is running or driving your life—God or yourself?

Dearest Jesus, may we begin each day with renewed eagerness in knowing You, loving You, and following You. May we remain in Your presence, with no other view or end in all our actions but the Father’s greater glory. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________