THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, 2023 

Sir 35:1-12

Ps 50

Mark 10:28-31

Hundred times more

The question that Peter puts to Jesus in today’s gospel reading (Mk 10:28-31) shows a certain amount of self-interest, ‘What about us? We have left everything and followed you. Peter seems to want some reassurance that the sacrifices he has made to follow Jesus will be worth it. It is a very understandable question. 

There is an honesty about it. We often find it easy to identify with Peter because of his honesty, and his humanity. In answering his question Jesus assures him that whatever he has given up to become a disciple is small compared to what he will receive. He will be repaid a ‘hundred times over’. Jesus is reminding us all that if we are generous with him, his generosity toward us will far exceed our generosity toward him. 

Following the Lord will often mean what the gospel reading calls ‘persecutions’, taking the more difficult path, the less traveled way. However, in taking that path Jesus assures us that we will receive far more than we will give, both in this life and in the life to come. Saint Paul expresses the same conviction when writing to the church in Corinth, ‘you will be enriched in every way for your great generosity’.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, I want to follow you as your disciple and to love you wholeheartedly with all I have. Amen 

+Remain blessed