Word to the Wise
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - Tuesday in the 8th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Pet 1:10-16 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 brothers or sisters or mother 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: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first."
The phrase that should capture our attention here is "the age to come." The rich man who came and asked Jesus what he must do to "inherit" eternal life was thinking about an age in which God would restore the kingdom of Israel and reign over a new kingdom. The disciples had the same notion and a couple of them, James and John, would try to influence Jesus about positions of importance in that new "kingdom." They do not yet realize that Jesus is not talking about that kind of kingdom.
The disciples would indeed gain new "families" in the sense that the growing Christian community would provide them with support and shelter when they left behind belongings and families and friends that would reject them because of their faith in Jesus. That is what "persecution" would mean. In our time, it can still mean that! I can only say that my own gesture in that direction - entering a religious order - has meant a tremendous "gain" in families, places and sufficiency of support over the nearly 50 years that I have been a Dominican! However, all of those "blessings" are meant for the present time. Life eternal will be a whole new experience! AMEN