Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, 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 kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, (namely) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Blessed the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commands. His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth; the upright generation shall be blessed. Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just. Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice; Lavishly he gives to the poor, his justice shall endure forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory.

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.' Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple."

Now that our Head has ascended, it is fitting that the members (Col 2,19)... take the path which he has trodden so truly before us. For “it was needful for Christ to suffer thus, and so to enter into his glory” (Lk 24,26). We must follow this dear Champion who has borne the standard before us. Let everyone take up their cross and follow him and we shall come to the place where he is. You know how people will often follow the world in pursuit of empty honors; how they will despise their bodies, their comfort, their home, and friends, and go out to war, only to win treasure for themselves! We, too, must likewise renounce everything for the sake of the pure treasure which is God, and follow our blessed Lord, who is our Head... There are plenty of persons who would gladly be Christ's witnesses in peace, when everything goes along just as they would wish. They would like to be holy, provided that their pious exercises and work never become irksome; they would be glad enough to enjoy, desire, or know the things of God, if there were no bitterness, labor, or tedium involved. But once they are assailed by strong temptations and spiritual darkness, as soon as they no longer feel or enjoy the nearness of God, and are left destitute inwardly and outwardly, they fall away and are not true witnesses at all... Oh, if we could only shake ourselves free from this tendency, and learn to seek peace in tribulation. Only there is true peace born, peace which will last and really endure.

Brothers and sisters: We, though many, are one Body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute (you), bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.

O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me. Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD, both now and forever.

One of those at table with Jesus said to him, "Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God." He replied to him, "A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, 'Come, everything is now ready.' But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.' The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.' The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.' The master then ordered the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"

The guests excuse themselves, whereas the Kingdom is closed to no one who does not exclude himself by his own decision. Our Lord kindly invites everyone in but it is our own laziness or distraction that keeps us out. Someone who prefers buying a farm has no place in the Kingdom! In Noah's day, buyers and sellers were engulfed by the flood (Lk 17,26-28),... and so it is for anyone who excuses himself because he has just married, since it is written: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother and wife... cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14,26)... And so, following the proud disdain of the wealthy Christ turned to the pagans. He brought in good and wicked that the good might be made greater and the inclinations of the wicked improve... He invited the poor, the sick, the blind, thus demonstrating that physical handicap keeps no one out of the Kingdom..., or rather, that the infirmity of sin is healed by the mercy of the Lord... Then he sends people out seeking at intersections in the roads, for “Wisdom cries aloud in the streets” (Prv 1,20). He sends them out to the crossroads that sinners might be told to abandon broad ways and meet up on the narrow way that leads to life (Mt 7,13). He sends them out along roads and hedgerows because people who are hastening towards the blessings to come without being held back by present blessings, who are committed to the way of good will, will attain the Kingdom of Heaven just like people who are able to make a distinction between good and evil as fields are divided by a hedge: that is to say, those who set up the rampart of faith against the temptations of sin.

Brothers and sisters: The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you once disobeyed God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may (now) receive mercy. For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given him anything that he may be repaid?" For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help, O God, protect me. I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. “See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.” For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. They shall dwell in the land and own it, and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall inhabit it.

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Let us keep an eye on our neighbor’s well-being, whether in good health or struck by sickness, with as much concern as we do our own. For “we are all one in the Lord” (Rom 12:5), whether rich or poor, slaves or free, well or sick. There is only one head for all of us, the principal of all things – Christ (Col 1:18). What the members of a body are for each other, every one of us is for each of the others. So we shouldn’t either neglect or abandon those who have fallen into the state of weakness that haunts us all. Rather than taking delight in being in good health, it is better to sympathize with the misfortunes of our poor neighbors… They are in God’s image just as we are and, in spite of their apparent decline, they have maintained their fidelity to this image better than we have. In them, the inner man has put on the same Christ and they have received the same “first-fruits of the Spirit” (2Cor 5:5). They have the same laws, the same, commandments, the same covenants, the same assemblies, the same mysteries and the same hope. Christ died equally for them, “he who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). They, who have been deprived of many blessings here below, have a share in the inheritance of life the heavenly life. They are sharers in the sufferings of Christ and will be so in his glory.