Tuesday, August 22, 2017 20th Week in
Ordinary Time
First Reading:
Judges 6.11-24a Gospel:
Matthew 19:23-30
Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you: it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, believe me: it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
On hearing this, the disciples were astonished and said, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and answered, “For humans it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Then Peter spoke up and said, “You see we have given up everything to follow you: what will be our lot?” Jesus answered, “You who have followed me, listen to my words: on the Day of Renewal, when the Son of Man sits on his throne in glory, you, too, will sit on twelve thrones to rule the twelve tribes of Israel. As for those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or property for my Name’s sake, they will receive a hundredfold and be given eternal life. Many who are now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Detachment is beneficial and necessary both at the moral and practical level. At the moral level detachment will prevent blur in one’s vision of the true value of realities. At the practical level, detachment gives evangelizers the moral ascendancy to relay Jesus’ teaching that heaven’s gates are too narrow for those who fatten themselves up in worldly indulgence.
To those who are detached, Jesus promises heaven. He doesn’t have to. Detachment is already a big reward since it frees us from the endless demands of the flesh. Peter, who was among Jesus’ trusted followers, took this occasion as earliest opportunity to claim the reward. How assuming of Peter! What did he really give up anyway? Was he boasting about abandoning a tattered fishing net, an old fishing boat, and a nagging mother in law?
Like Peter, none of us can boast of having given up anything for the Lord. Consequently none of us can demand any portion of the promised reward. “Nobody can give what he doesn’t have” is still a valid principle. If the Lord owns everything including the very life we enjoy, what “giving up” can we ever boast about? If there is anything we can truly call our own, it is our sinfulness. God will be most happy if we can give this up for love of him.
Giving up sin is, in fact, the ultimate objective of the cultivation of the spirit of detachment. By detaching ourselves from material wealth we increase our sensitivity to the things of the Spirit and diminish our appetite for sin. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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