Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sr. Mary O’Brien, SNDdeN

September 7, 2025

Luke 14: 25-33

Great crowds accompanied Jesus who told them that they must carry their cross in order to be his disciple.  The examples which follow show how difficult it can be to continue to follow the path which is shown – or, often, is difficult to discern so that discernment can be a large part of following the path which is being offered as the way forward.

The last sentence reads: None of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.  In some ways this reads a threat but it can be seen as an encouragement to tread the path laid out no matter how it seems at any one time.  Hope can take time to be recognised, but it is always to be found!

Luke 14: 25-33

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

The Gospel of the Lord

Meet Sister Mary O’Brien, SNDdeN

Mary O’Brien was educated at Notre Dame High School Manchester. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur at Ashdown, England, in 1962. After her religious profession in 1965, she was missioned to Liverpool to teach in Notre Dame Collegiate School, Everton Valley and then in Notre Dame High School, St. Helens. Then, back in Liverpool, she spent ten years in Notre Dame High School Woolton which, on reorganization, became St. Julie’s High School, Woolton. Sister Mary went to Kenya in 1992 where she taught for some years, and made many contacts. She was then engaged in ministry and administration in the Kenya Province until 2018 when she returned to the British Province.