Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark 10, 26-31
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.”
Giving up to receive
1. Peter. In Peter we see the person who is passionate about what he does and who he does it for. Unlike the rich young man, Peter does things meaningfully and for a purpose, not for the sake of volunteering or for mere fulfillment. When you find meaning in everything you do and you know why you do it, you become passionate about what you’re doing. That’s why those who choose what they are passionate about know that they’ll have to make sacrifices. If you’ve chosen to follow Christ, you discover that this path entails making decisions every day, because so many times the things that the world offers you are not compatible with your journey towards eternity. Our life implies choosing what leads us to God, making decisions at every moment. The key for Christians is to listen to the Holy Spirit who motivates us to follow Jesus Christ.
2. Renunciation. When you are capable of giving up something for someone, it means that this person gives meaning to your life and completes it. In addition, when you renounce things or people, it’s because you know that they’re not essential to your life and that it’s not necessary for you to appear in theirs. Apart from this, giving up a person is also part of loving them, it’s a sign of maturity and assuming that the person is capable of living without you. A great temptation we can have is to make people focus entirely on us and revolve around us. To let go is to grow. To love is to choose. Clinging on to someone can make others become satellites of your life and your life might even cease to be yours, because others are in control of it.
3. The first. Take charge of your life and remember that it’s a journey towards a goal: Heaven. We aren’t people who are called to gather people around us, but people who seek the good and the freedom of those around us. Jesus reminds us of what our life points to: to live in peace and to know that our search is for eternity. God calls us to enjoy this life here on earth, knowing that everything can be achieved in Him and knowing that our ultimate goal is Heaven. Today, God is giving you a little push to walk along his path.
Don’t forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you and keep you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
