Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection November 05, 2025
Wednesday – 31st Week in Ordinary Time
05th November 2025 (Wednesday)
Psalter: Week 3
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Romans 13:8-10
Brethren: Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Psalm 112:1b-2, 4-5, 9 (R. 5a)
R/. It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon you.
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
Wednesday – 31st Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: Following Jesus and being a disciple of him is not an easy task. The cost of discipleship is high. It demands a spirit of total detachment and commitment
1. Jesus draws our attention to the cost of discipleship. There may be cheap disciples but the discipleship is never cheap. It is costly in the sense of being precious and strenuous as well. It is not for namesake or fun sake or convenience sake. It is for the sake of him who loves us so much and calls us to love him and follow him in his life and mission.
2. For a true disciple, to love his Lord and master is the greatest and the highest priority. Nothing or no one must come on his way. Even one’s own family members, however dear and close they are, cannot take the place of God. One should be ready even to detach himself from his family if it obstructs his attachment to the Lord. One must even hate his family if they run contrary to his love for the Lord.
3. Thus, following the Lord demands a wholehearted detachment. It is threefold: detachment from one’s own family, from money and material possessions, and from one’s own life. Often, family attachments, and excessive attachment to one’s life and the material things constrain, reduce and even substitute the attachment to the Lord.
4. Instead, we must cultivate a personal attachment to the Lord; an attachment to the one spiritual family of God’s children; a striving for the true riches, the spiritual riches, of which love is the greatest; and love for eternal life, even to the extent of death.
5. Following the Lord is like building a tower. Building a tower needs meticulous planning, discerning, and pursuing. In the same way, discipleship cannot be a casual matter. It must be well-reflected, well-discerned, and well-pursued. Further, it is like going to war. It needs thorough preparation, both by training and by a sufficient army.
My Practice: How sad it is that many disciples are not aware of the cost of discipleship! They easily and conveniently lose sight of the requirements to live it. Discipleship is not cheap but dignified.
