First Reading: Ezekiel 28:1-10
The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man,
say to the prince of Tyre:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Because you are haughty of heart,
you say, “A god am I!
I occupy a godly throne
in the heart of the sea!”—
And yet you are a man, and not a god,
however you may think yourself like a god.
Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel,
there is no secret that is beyond you.
By your wisdom and your intelligence
you have made riches for yourself;
You have put gold and silver
into your treasuries.
By your great wisdom applied to your trading
you have heaped up your riches;
your heart has grown haughty from your riches–
therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
Because you have thought yourself
to have the mind of a god,
Therefore I will bring against you
foreigners, the most barbarous of nations.
They shall draw their swords
against your beauteous wisdom,
they shall run them through your splendid apparel.
They shall thrust you down to the pit, there to die
a bloodied corpse, in the heart of the sea.
Will you then say, “I am a god!”
when you face your murderers?
No, you are man, not a god,
handed over to those who will slay you.
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
at the hands of foreigners,
for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD.
Responsorial Psalm: Deutoronmy 32:26-27AB, 27CD-28, 30, 35CD-36AB
R. (39c) It is I who deal death and give life.
“I would have said, ‘I will make an end of them
and blot out their name from men’s memories,’
Had I not feared the insolence of their enemies,
feared that these foes would mistakenly boast.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“‘Our own hand won the victory;
the LORD had nothing to do with it.’”
For they are a people devoid of reason,
having no understanding.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“How could one man rout a thousand,
or two men put ten thousand to flight,
Unless it was because their Rock sold them
and the LORD delivered them up?”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
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.”
NAB
When I was hired as a youth minister ten years ago this summer, I was sure I’d be in it for three to five years. It wasn’t that I didn’t love the students or feel called to this particular parish, but rather I planned to give myself to ministry until the Lord gave me my heart’s desire: to be a wife and mother. And in the past ten years of being mostly single and still childless, my heart has often echoed the question posed in today’s Gospel:
We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?
Saint Peter, the rock upon which our Church was founded, asked Jesus the modern day equivalent of “what about me?”
Can you relate?
Maybe you’re exhausted from nursing an ailing parent or grieving a lost child. Maybe you’ve been generous with your ‘yes’ to children but struggle financially or perhaps you desire children but struggle with infertility. Have you ever spent yourself in the service of God and others and only to find yourself wondering the same thing: what will there be for me?
Lucky for us, Jesus answered Saint Peter.
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 . . . .
From our limited perspective, we want our reward to look a certain way and come at a particular time, but let me tell you a little secret . . . that hundred times more? It’s Jesus. Jesus is our prize. Jesus doesn’t promise a finite blessing, but an infinite Person. And in Him, the kind of love and acceptance we hardly dared to hope for.
On the day I celebrated ten years in ministry, the Holy Spirit softly spoke into my heart, Happy Anniversary. The Lord was reminding me that it was our anniversary, not only a professional milestone. In all these years of following Him in ministry, He had been committed to me. He had loved me unreservedly. He had forgiven me without hesitation. The intimate relationship with Him was the reward. And it’s available for you, too.
Pause now and invite the Lover of your soul to reveal His love for you in a new, deeper way. Stay attentive throughout the day to the ways in which God is loving you.
Beth Davis is a lover of Jesus, an aunt to five beautiful humans, and a full time youth minister in Flagstaff, Arizona. She is passionate about winning the hearts of young people for Jesus through discipleship. You can find out more about her here.
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