WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Romans 13:8-10
Brothers and sisters:
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 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, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Psalm 112:1b-2, 4-5, 9
Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments. Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.
They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
Luke 14:25-33
Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
(NRSVCE)
Meditation
In the gospel, the Lord asks us to take charge of our lives and think about what it takes to complete them much as we would a project or a mission. A small child will begin to climb a staircase with no thought for how to get back down, but when he is older, he knows that there can be a big drop or a fall if he ventures past his early abilities.
When we mature, we look at the resources we need to complete a task, as the Lord mentions in the gospel. We see that we need to calculate through to the end. What are our resources as Christians? They are not the worldly things.
In our lives, possessions do not make us rich, but the work we do and the war we fight, is a building for the Kingdom of our Master. His kingdom is a just reign in which we owe our neighbors a duty of love. In this is our strong tower.
We build it when we are gracious, merciful, and righteous, generous and giving. Our legacy in the Lord is righteousness that endures forever and honor that cannot be destroyed.