Wednesday of the XXXI Week in Ordinary Time

Tuesday, November 4, 2026 Reading from the letter of the Apostle Saint Paul to the Philippians (2:12-18): Since you have always obeyed, not only when I was present, but much more now in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who activates in you the will and the activity to carry out his plan of love. Whatever you do, be without protests or arguments, so you will be blameless and limpid, children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and depraved people, among whom you shine like lights of the world, showing a reason to live. On the day of Christ, that will be an honor for me, for I have not run or toiled in vain. And, even in the event that my blood has to be shed, sprinkling the liturgical sacrifice that is your faith, I am happy and associate myself with your joy; For your part, be happy and join mine. Word of God He returned and said to them, “If anyone comes with me and does not leave behind his father and his mother, his wife and his children, and his brothers and his sisters, and even himself, he cannot be my disciple. He who does not carry his cross behind me cannot be my disciple. So, which of you, if you want to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the expenses, to see if you have enough to finish it? Lest, if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish, those who look on will mock him, saying, «This man began to build and was not able to finish.» Or what king, if he is going to give battle to another king, does not first sit down to deliberate whether with ten thousand men he will be able to overcome the one who attacks him with twenty thousand? And if not, when the other is still far away, send envoys to ask for peace conditions. The same is true for you: he who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. Word of the Lord