5 November 2025 (Wednesday) / Ordinary Weekday/ Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

5 November 2025 (Wednesday)

Ordinary Weekday/ Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Romans 13: 8-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 112: 1-2, 4-5, 9
Alleluia: 1 Peter 4: 14
Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33

First Reading: Romans 13: 8-10

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. For he that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law. For Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness: Thou shalt not covet: and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 112: 1b-2, 4-5, 9

R. (5) Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or
R. Alleluia.

Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the righteous shall be blessed.

R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or
R. Alleluia.

To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness: he is merciful, and compassionate and just. Acceptable is the man that sheweth mercy and lendeth: he shall order his words with judgment.

R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or
R. Alleluia.

He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory.

R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia: 1 Peter 4: 14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of God rests upon you.
(12. My dear friends, do not be taken aback at the testing by fire which is taking place among you, as though something strange were happening to you;
13. but in so far as you share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, so that you may enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed.
14. If you are insulted for bearing Christ's name, blessed are you, for on you rests the Spirit of God, the Spirit of glory).
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33

And there went great multitudes with him. And turning, he said to them: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit down, and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he have wherewithal to finish it: Lest, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, Saying: This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, about to go to make war against another king, doth not first sit down, and think whether he be able, with ten thousand, to meet him that, with twenty thousand, cometh against him? Or else, whilst the other is yet afar off, sending an embassy, he desireth conditions of peace. So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple.

For our reflection today:

In today’s Gospel Jesus insists on the conditions for being his disciples: preferring nothing to the love of Christ, carrying one’s cross and following him. Many people in fact drew near to Jesus, they wanted to be included among his followers; and this would happen especially after some miraculous sign which accredited him as the Messiah, the King of Israel. However Jesus did not want to disappoint anyone. He knew well what awaited him in Jerusalem and which path the Father was asking him to take: it was the Way of the Cross, the way of sacrificing himself for the forgiveness of our sins. Following Jesus does not mean taking part in a triumphal procession! It means sharing his merciful love, entering his great work of mercy for each and every man and for all men. The work of Jesus is, precisely, a work of mercy, a work of forgiveness and of love! Jesus is so full of mercy! And this universal pardon, this mercy, passes through the Cross. Jesus, however, does not want to do this work alone: he wants to involve us too in the mission that the Father entrusted to him. Jesus’ disciple renounces all his possessions because in Jesus he has found the greatest Good in which every other good receives its full value and meaning: family ties, other relationships, work, cultural and economic goods and so forth. The Christian detaches him or herself from all things and rediscovers all things in the logic of the Gospel, the logic of love and of service. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 September 2013)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed  and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)