Wednesday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Phil 2:12-18
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. 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 without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, 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. 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. In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14 (R.1a)
R. 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.
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.
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.
Gospel – Lk 14:25-33
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone 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. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 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? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ 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? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
Featured Saints
St. Melaine, bishop (†after 511). Endowed with a great spirit of prayer, he built a church with his own hands in Rennes, France, and gathered several monks to the service of God.
St. Stephen of Apt, bishop (†1046). Outstanding for his meekness, he made two pilgrimages to Jerusalem and rebuilt the cathedral of his Diocese of Apt, in the southeast of France.
St. Severus (seventh century), martyr and Bishop of Barcelona, Spain.
St. Theobald, priest (†1070). Religious from the Canons Regular of St. Augustine who died in Dorat, França. As the church custodian, he left only to care for the sick.
St. Winnoc, abbot (†716). Believed to be of Welsh origin. Disciple of St. Bertin in the Monastery of Sithiu, near Saint-Omer, France. He founded and governed the Monastery of Wormhout in northern France.
St. Felix, martyr. Third century.
Sts. Callinicus, Imerius, Theodore, Stephen, Peter, Paul, other Theodore, John, other John and another, of unknown name, martyrs (†638). In Gaza, soldiers captured by the Saracens of this city, encouraged by the bishop St. Sophronius, confessed their faith in Christ and were beheaded.
St. Leonard of Noblac, hermit (†559). A frankish noble and coutier of Clovis, who became a convert and follower of St. Remigius. He took up his abode in a forest at Limoges (France), where he gathered a number of followers, later establishing an abbey at Noblac around which developed the village later called Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat.
Blessed Christina of Stommeln, virgin (†1312). Born in Stommeln, close to Cologne (Germany). She entered the convent of the Beguines of Cologne at age 12, and at 15 was marked by the stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ. She endured terrible sufferings, including tremendous temptations, with admirable courage.
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