Word to the Wise
Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - Tuesday in the 8th Week in Ordinary Time
[Sir 35:1-12 and Mark 10:28-31]Peter began to say to Jesus, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothrs or sisters or moother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age...." [Mark]
A famous line from Tennessee Williams' play, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, comes to my mind: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." As a member of a mendicant religious order (originally Dominicans, Franciscans, etc. had to beg each day for food and support), I am well aware that the donations of friends and family and people I've never met paid for my seminary education and even now provide the resources for our brothers who can no longer beg or earn. This becomes especially poignant as I become more and more a "senior citizen."
Peter is responding to Jesus' encounter with the rich man whom Jesus advised to sell all his possessions and follow him. This was in yesterday's gospel scripture. So, Peter is checking to see just what it is he and the other disciples will gain from leaving everything to follow Jesus. Jesus promises that Peter and the others will be more than adequately taken care of, but they will be persecuted as well! I cannot say that I have had to face persecution, but I know that I have been cared for!
Yesterday, Memorial Day, our nation paid tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the country. Most of us will not be called on to do that, but we can appreciate and honor those who do. We Dominicans pray every day for our benefactors who make our preaching mission possible through their generosity. We are truly "dependent on the kindness of strangers." AMEN