Today's Gospel

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we explore the genius of the gospel, the genius of the life and teachings of Jesus. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Mark 10:28-31. "Peter began to say to him, 'Lo, we have left everything and followed you.' And Jesus said, 'Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last and the last first.'"

So what jumps out at you today? I mean, Jesus is making a promise, right? He's saying, "Yes, you are going to have to make sacrifices to follow me." He's saying, "Yes, you're going to have to make sacrifices to live the gospel. You're going to make sacrifice to share the gospel. There's sacrifice involved in here." And Jesus, he was never confused about that. He never hid that. He was never dishonest about that. At every step along the way, he said, "You are going to have to suffer." But what did he say before that? "I'm going to suffer." He always led with that. "I'm going to suffer. I am going to have to suffer. And you are going to have to suffer." But what is he saying today? "But it's worth it. It's going to be rewards. And the reward isn't going to be a little reward. It's going to be a hundredfold. It's going to be a hundredfold reward." That's a great reward.

So whatever your sacrifice is right now, whatever your suffering is right now, let's be offering it up to God. Let's keep our eye on the prize. It's going to be a hundredfold. Reward, it's going to be amazing. It's going to be extraordinary. And it's good to think about that sometimes. All the time? No. Sometimes, yes. When we're suffering and sacrificing, yeah. It's good to keep in mind that that's what the future looks like. That's what eternity looks like. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

[music] I hope you're enjoying the daily gospel reflections. So one of the things I love doing, spending this time with you each day. Recently, I released a book called 33 Days to Divine Mercy. If you haven't had a chance to check that out yet, I encourage you to do that today.