Tuesday, May 28, 2002
8th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 1 P 1:10-16
Gospel: Mk 10:28-31
Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "We have given up everything to follow you." Jesus answered, "Truly, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands for my sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive his reward. I say to you: even in the midst of persecution he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time and in the world to come eternal life. Do pay attention: Many who now are first will be last, and the last, first."
Commentary
Jesus was not against having things but against our lack of solidarity. When explaining to Peter about the "reward" that those who have left everything may expect, he was not talking about the resources of the Church but about the solidarity of its members. During the great persecutions that the first Christian communities suffered in Jerusalem and later in Rome, they experienced the bonds that united them, often stronger that family relationships. Hunted, obliged to hide, they found hundreds of brothers and sisters ready with houses to give them refuge. So Jesus does not only speak of reward in the next life. Already in this world, in the midst of persecution, those who sacrifice themselves for the Kingdom will find friendship, joy and human fulfillment far greater than anything they could have hoped for.