Holyrood Church 715 West 179 Street, Upper West side Manhattan, USA, 212-923-3770

There are so many distractions as well as many other attractions in our world.

 
Reading: Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” Mark 10:28.
 
Good morning, happy Tuesday, and many blessings my dear family.
 
In today Gospel (Mark 10:28-31) Peter responds to Jesus’ statement to the young man in yesterday’s Gospel.  Peter reminds Jesus:  “We have given up everything to follow to you”.  Jesus tells Peter that anyone who chooses to give up family, home, job or land for home, job or land for His sake will receive a reward, a reward so great that this individual will receive a hundred times more than she or he gave up!  Now that could be quite a reward depending on what you have given up!
 
Jesus is reminding his disciples that he desires “their all.”  He doesn’t want lukewarm disciples; rather, Jesus longs to have followers who have a deep commitment to him and his ministry.  And this is what Jesus wants from each of us.  If we are deeply committed to Jesus and if we truly give our all, we also will receive a hundred times more than we have given. What a promise!
However, it is not always easy to “give our all” to Jesus.
 
It is good to be honest when talking with the Lord, as Peter is here! He lets Jesus know what he is feeling, and Jesus responds positively. I may sometimes feel like Peter, and say: ‘Look at all I do and all I suffer!’ Let me then listen to Jesus thanking me and promising me a great reward, even if it is postponed to ‘the age to come’. If he asks me with a smile: ‘What have you left recently for the sake of the Gospel?’ what should I say? When did I leave my comfort zone to bring his love to others? Talk with him about that.
 
There are so many distractions as well as many other attractions in our world. We can easily wander off from Jesus; hopefully, we also wish to belong wholeheartedly to Jesus. What will we choose today?  No one else can choose the path for us.  Only we can make this decision.  And it is a decision that we need to make each and every day. Today what will I decide?  What will you decide?  Will we follow Jesus today, even if the cost seems great?  I pray we will!
 
How well we understand Peter! He finds it so easy to blurt out what we often feel ashamed to say, or even to think. Look, we have left everything and followed you. Do you appreciate that? What shall we get in return?
 
Jesus understood what Peter was saying and assured him that nobody can ever outdo God in generosity. We will receive a hundredfold, even in this life. I can look back and see how true this has been in my own life. I reflect on this exchange as Peter might have done at the end of his life. What has it meant to me to follow Jesus? What have I given up? What was my hundredfold, in the way of joy, contentment, peace of soul?
 
Blessings,
 
Luis+

Date news: 
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - 09:00

Ministry at the time of Coronavirus (Covid 19): Prevent, cure and accompany

Now we have to shape what some have started calling; The Church at Home. Although I keep asking myself; What do those who do not have a home do? For this reason, at the same time, I am declaring today in our Holyrood Church a Lenten day of prayer, fasting and reading the Bible in the Time of the Coronavirus.

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