Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection September 07, 2025
Sunday – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
07th September 2025 (Sunday)
Psalter: Week 3
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Wisdom 9:13-18b
What human being can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills? For the reasoning of mortals is worthless, and our designs are likely to fail, for a perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthy tent burdens the mind full of thoughts. We can hardly guess at what is on earth, and what is at hand we find with labour, but who has traced out what is in the heavens? Who has learned your counsel, unless you have given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? And thus the paths of those on earth were set right, and people were taught what pleases you.
Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17 (R. 1)
R/. O Lord, you have been our refuge, from generation to generation.
Second Reading: Philemon 9b-10, 12-17
Beloved: I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus- I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother-especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Let your face shine forth on your servant, and teach me your decrees.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
At that time: Great crowds accompanied Jesus, 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 Gospel Reflection
Sunday – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Main Point: Today, we have many disciples who even forget that they are disciples and not the master. They behave like masters and so fail to be true disciples
1. Once again, Jesus clarifies who a true disciple is and how to become one. The highest priority to God is the fundamental and indispensable identity mark of a true disciple. God is the highest concern and no one and nothing else. Not even one’s own family members, like father, mother, brothers, and sisters, can become more important than God.
2. See how Jesus declares: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Let us get straight into the mind of Jesus behind this statement.
3. Jesus is quite aware of the challenge of following him and the possible hindrances that come in the way of following him. Therefore, he proposes some radical conditions that go directly contrary to these hindrances.
4. Among these hindrances comes primarily one’s excessive attachment to one’s family. It is not wrong to love them, to feel concerned for them, and to have a deep bonding with them. But the point is: at no point, the love for family comes in the way of love for God. At no point, the concern for the family deviates from the concerns of God.
5. At no point, attachment to the family reduces our attachment to God. And at no point, the bonding with the natural family diminishes our bonding and duty toward the spiritual family. It is in this sense that our love for God must be profound, unequivocal, and undivided. We must be ready even to hate the family if it endangers our love for God.
6. Another serious obstacle in following Jesus is the self. Jesus demands, “Hate even one’s own self”. This is a clear summon to get rid of our false self, the ego. When life becomes egoistic, self-centred, self-interested, self-seeking, and self-serving, God is no longer the priority.
7. For God is dethroned and the self is enthroned. In the light of the first reading from Wisdom, it is nothing but the situation where “the perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthly tent burdens the mind full of thoughts”.
8. Another condition to follow Jesus as a good disciple is “to bear one’s own cross”. In one sense, it may refer to our own fragilities and imperfections. In reference to the first reading, it is to be aware that the “reasoning of the mortals is worthless, and our designs are likely to fail”. This awareness and admission are very important. Otherwise, one can easily slip into a sense of self-sufficiency, self-complacency, and self-righteousness.
9. Another essential aspect of ‘bearing the cross’ is to pursue and persevere in the path of the values, bearing the subsequent sufferings and adversities. A true follower of Christ is bound to face opposition and problems. The simplest reason is that his life will be a contrast to that of the world. But he shall not fear or be deterred from his path.
10. A third aspect of ‘bearing the cross’ is the spirit of patience and forbearance to accept the sufferings in life. We come across many situations in life that are unpleasant and unfavourable, like death, separation, misunderstanding, strife, loss, failure, and defeat. And many times, we may wonder why these things happen to us. We may question, is this the reward for our fidelity? In such times of cross, persevere.
11. A further condition for discipleship is discernment that is clear about the cost of discipleship and perseveres to the end. Jesus conveys this through two metaphors, namely building a tower and going to a battle. Obviously, they indicate a spirit of prudence; in social or pastoral terms, it is to know the context, become familiar with the situations, and be well-prepared and well-equipped.
12. All these factors may be okay. But, more than all these, what these two metaphors denote is to be aware that discipleship is not an easy task. Therefore, be wise and diligent to face any situation and keep focused on our target, be it a battle situation or a building situation.
My Practice: Let us learn humility and wisdom, so that we are unattached, persevering, totally focused, and committed to being true disciples
