A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

On one occasion when a great crowd was with Jesus, he turned to them and said, “If anyone of you comes to me without turning your back on your father and your mother, your loved ones, your brothers and sisters, indeed your very self, you cannot be my follower.  Anyone who does not take up the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  If one of you decides to build a tower, will you not first sit down and calculate the outlay to see if you have enough money to complete the project?

You will do that for fear of laying the foundation and then not being able to complete the work; for all who saw it would jeer at you, saying, ‘You began to build what you could not finish.’  Or if a nation is about to march on another to do battle, will they not sit down first and consider whether, with an army of ten thousand, they can withstand an enemy corning against them with twenty thousand?  If they cannot, they will send a delegation while the enemy is still at a distance, asking for terms of peace.  In the same way, none of you can be my disciple if you do not renounce all your possessions.”

The Good News as spoken through Luke.