Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28
Jesus
said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take
up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for
one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in
exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his
Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I
say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they
see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
+ + + + +
+ +
Reflection:
During
the fifteenth century a rich and educated man named Bernadino Realino left
everything for Christ. At 26 he was already a lawyer, a doctor and a town mayor, he had everything
that a young man could ever ask for.
When he
was 34, he went to attend a retreat and during that retreat he felt an
overwhelming call from Jesus to become a priest. He left everything to become a
priest and from that moment onwards he devoted his life to serve the poor.
This
saint found the real meaning of his life by leaving all of his earthly riches
and attachments in favor of Jesus. He found his heavenly wealth by leaving
behind his earthly wealth. He knew that nothing compares to Jesus.
This is
an eye opener for all of us who are so very enamoured by material wealth and
earthly power. Many of us are so taken by the things of this world that we take
Jesus for granted in favor of this world. But everything from this world is
passing and temporary, someday we will leave it behind.
We will
have neither earthly influence nor riches if we decide to follow Jesus. We
would be losing many of our friends if we follow Jesus. But all of
these earthly trappings are immaterial compared to the life that awaits us if
we decide hear the call of Jesus.
To hear
the call of Jesus is to be willing to leave behind our sinfulness, our
arrogance and egotism. To hear the call of Jesus is to be willing to celebrate
Holy Mass and read the bible. To hear the call of Jesus is to have the courage
to leave behind friends who do nothing to us except to influence us to sin.
Are you
willing to leave everything for the sake of Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment