📖 Introit (Ecclus 45:30 | Ps 131:1)
Statuit ei Dominus testamentum pacis, et principem fecit eum: ut sit illi sacerdotii dignitas in aeternum. Ps. Memento Domine, David: et omnis mansuetudinus ejus.
The Lord made with him a covenant of peace, and made him a prince, that the priestly dignity should be his for ever. Ps. O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness. ℣. Glory be to the Father.
✉️ Epistle (James 1:12-18)
Caríssimi: Beátus vir, qui suffert tentatiónem: quóniam, cum probátus fúerit, accípiet corónam vitæ, quam repromísit Deus diligéntibus se. Nemo, cum tentátur, dicat, quóniam a Deo tentátur: Deus enim intentátor malórum est: ipse autem néminem tentat. Unusquísque vero tentátur a concupiscéntia sua abstráctus et illéctus. Deinde Concupiscéntia cum concéperit, parit peccátum: peccátum vero cum consummátum fúerit, génerat mortem. Nolíte itaque erráre, fratres mei dilectíssimi. Omne datum óptimum et omne donum perféctum desúrsum est, descéndens a Patre lúminum, apud quem non est transmutátio nec vicissitúdinis obumbrátio. Voluntárie enim génuit nos verbo veritátis, ut simus inítium aliquod creatúræ ejus.
Dearest: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him. Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempteth no man. But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured. Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death. Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren. Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration. For of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creature.
✠ Gospel (Lk 14:26-33)
In illo témpore: Dixit Jesus turbis: Si quis venit ad me, et non odit patrem suum, et matrem, et uxórem, et fílios, et fratres, et soróres, adhuc autem et ánimam suam, non potest meus esse discípulus. Et qui non bájulat crucem suam, et venit post me, non potest meus esse discípulus. Quis enim ex vobis volens turrim ædificáre, non prius sedens cómputat sumptus, qui necessárii sunt, si hábeat ad perficiéndum; ne, posteáquam posúerit fundaméntum, et non potúerit perfícere, omnes, qui vident, incípiant illúdere ei, dicéntes: Quia hic homo cœpit ædificáre, et non pótuit consummáre? Aut quis rex iturus commíttere bellum advérsus álium regem, non sedens prius cógitat, si possit cum decem mílibus occúrrere ei, qui cum vigínti mílibus venit ad se? Alióquin, adhuc illo longe agénte, legatiónem mittens, rogat ea, quæ pacis sunt. Sic ergo omnis ex vobis, qui non renúntiat ómnibus, quæ póssidet, non potest meus esse discípulus.
At that time, Jesus said to the multitudes: 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.
🏰 The Building of the Spiritual Tower and Martyrdom
Today's liturgy presents us with a profound connection between longevity tested by suffering and the true consummation of the Christian life, personified in St. Simeon. The Gospel imposes a radical condition for discipleship: the "hatred" of carnal bonds when they oppose divine love, and the necessity of carrying the Cross. St. Simeon, being the Lord's cousin, could have boasted of his human kinship, but, as St. Augustine teaches, spiritual dignity surpasses the flesh, for "Mary was more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ" (St. Augustine, De Sancta Virginitate). Simeon understood that to build the "tower" of sanctity—mentioned in the Gospel parable—it is necessary to calculate the costs, that is, to foresee total renunciation. He not only laid the foundations but persevered for one hundred and twenty years in the construction of this spiritual edifice, enduring the "temptation" and trial mentioned in the Epistle of St. James, his predecessor. The tower is only completed when the work withstands the final test; for Simeon, this test was martyrdom on the cross, perfectly mirroring the end of his earthly life with that of the Savior. St. Gregory the Great warns us that "many begin a good work, but few finish it; now, the reward is not for the one who begins, but for the one who perseveres to the end" (St. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Evangelia). Thus, the renunciation demanded by Christ is not an impious contempt for creation, but a hierarchical ordering of love where God occupies the summit; by renouncing everything, including his own life in old age, Simeon became a true "firstfruit of creation," demonstrating that the covenant of peace celebrated in the Introit is not the absence of external war, but the interior victory of the soul that, having calculated the price of eternity, joyfully paid it with its own blood.