DAILY GRACE
June 2, 2020, Tuesday of the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time
Scripture: Mark 10:28-31
Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“‘Peter began to say to him,
‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ ”
Peter wants to know what the consequences will be. He and the other disciples have left all they held dear to follow Jesus. They have left their families, jobs, conveniences, comfort, and security —- everything. This man whom they have come to believe is the Son of Man, the Messiah, has looked on them with love and called them to be close to him —- poor, vulnerable, and totally dependent on God. Peter now wonders what reward they will receive. Jesus promptly responds that whoever leaves everything for love of him “and for the sake of the Gospel” will receive a hundredfold even in this life (together with persecution) and “in the age to come eternal life.”
“Leaving everything” meant certain things for the disciples. What does “leaving everything” mean for us here and now?
Perhaps it means refusing a job that, for a Christian, would involve morally unacceptable behavior or values and instead accepting a job or occupation generating less pay. “Leaving everything” might invite a married couple to be open to more children (perhaps even adopting a foster child), and consequently to having a less expensive car or home, or scaling back on vacations. “Leaving everything” could be turning away from silence or acquiescence in the face of racial prejudice and standing up to racial injustice. “Leaving everything” could be abandoning pride and nursed wounds to reconcile relationships within one’s family or other associations. “Leaving everything” could be the choice to set aside quality time in each day or each week to pray and worship God in the community of God’s people. Every effort we make, no matter how small, to wisely choose God’s will for us in our life, Jesus promises, will reap a hundredfold now, and eternal life in the age to come.
Prayer
Lord of all and the fullness of all desiring, help me to see what you are calling me to leave for your sake and the sake of the good news. Help me not to focus on what I must forego or give up, but to consider what I have to gain, and what we all have to gain, —-peace and joy (wellness/shalom) in the present, and eternal life in the age to come. Amen.
Contemplation
“Leaving everything”