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Gospel: Matthew 19: 23-30
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you,
it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,
“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”
Then Peter said to him in reply,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“Lord, we have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?”
Peter and the others have left a lot behind: their boats, their homes, their families, their imagined plans for the future – all to follow Jesus into the unknown. It’s fair for Peter to wonder, “What will there be for us?”
“A hundred times more, and eternal life to come,” the Lord says. A promise that rings true throughout the ages.
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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux – a man who, like Peter, left everything behind to follow the Lord.
Bernard, the third of seven children, was born into a family of high-nobility in France nearly a thousand years ago. While his parents ensured that he received a comprehensive education, at the very center of their family was faith in Jesus Christ.
That faith was greatly tested by the death of Bernard’s mother shortly after he turned nineteen. But such a great loss was met with even greater grace, as Bernard turned to the Lord in his time of need.
Feeling the Lord drawing him closer, he decided to enter religious life as a monk.
Amazingly, his conviction was so deep, that all of his brothers joined him, with the exception of the youngest, who would join him later, as would his father! His sister became a nun. Thirty other boys of nobility also followed Bernard that day.
Together, they traveled thirty miles north of their home and joined a Benedictine monastery.
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Some years thereafter, Bernard was sent to establish a new Benedictine monastery in France. By his death, over 700 other men had joined! Bernard leaves behind a legacy of faith, humility, and devotion to Our Lady, all of which are evidenced by his 530 pastoral letters and 300 sermons.
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So, what might his life say to us today?
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As is true in the life of Saint Peter, he reminds us that, with God’s grace, we can change the world for the better – one person at a time.
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Image credits: (1) QuoteFancy (2) Bernard of Clairvaux, Britannica (3) Redbubble