Introductory Reading: 

A reading from Pope John Paul II's 1981 encyclical On Human Work:
 
Through work we not only transform the world, we are transformed ourselves.  By our work we share in God's creating activity and all work should be judged by the measure of dignity given to the person who carries it out.  We inherit the work of the generations before us, and we share in the building of the future of all those who will come after us.  All this should be kept in mind when considering the rights that come with work or the duty to work.  The thing that must shape the whole economy is respect for the workers' rights within each country and all through the world.

 First Reading:

A reading from the book of Wisdom.

Which of us, indeed, can know the intentions of God?
   Who can grasp the will of God?
The reasonings of mortals are unsure
   and our intentions unstable;
for a perishable body presses down the soul,
   and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind.
It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth,
   laborious to know what lies within our reach;
   who, then, can discover what is in the heavens?
As for your intention, who could have learned it,
   had you not granted Wisdom,
   and sent your holy spirit from above?
Thus, the paths of those on earth have been straightened,
   and humanity has been taught what pleases you
   and saved, by Wisdom.

Second Reading

A reading from the letter of Paul to Philemon.

I prefer to appeal in the name of love.  Yes, I, Paul, ambassador and now a prisoner for Christ, appeal to you for my child, whom I have begotten during my imprisonment.  It is this one I am sending you – and that means that I am sending back my heart.

I had wanted to keep him with me, that he might serve me in your place while I am in prison for the gospel; but I did not want to do anything without your consent, that kindness might not be forced on you, but might be freely bestowed.  Perhaps he was separated from you for awhile for this reason:  that you might possess him forever, no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially dear to me; and how much more to you, since now you will know him both as a person and as one belonging to God.

If you regard me as a partner, welcome this one as you would me.

The Gospel

 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 any one 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 coming 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.”