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."
REFLECTION
St. Bernard of Clairvaux was the third child of 7 born of a well-to-do family in France.
His parents were holy and encouraged Bernard to attend College at Chatillon at an early age. He was considered to be very humble and pious. He studied theology and Holy Scripture and was a gifted writer and speaker.
His mother was a great influence on him and when she died, he wanted to live an austere lifestyle away from worldly temptations. He left his home with several of his brothers, an uncle, and some friends, in total about 30 men, to seek a spiritual life. He was interested in the newly formed order of the Cistercians. They wanted to follow St. Benedict's rule more closely and he was a great help in establishing the Order. He later became the Abbot
St. Bernard became known for his writings and preaching. He was devoted to the Blessed Mother. A legend was told that he had a vision of the Blessed Mother feeding the Infant Jesus and some of the breast milk fell into his eyes and on his lips. St. Bernard was able to see things with great clarity and speak with great eloquence.
Although he was dedicated to the Cistercian life, he was asked to preach for the second Crusades which he did. There were many miracles recorded of people recovering their eyesight and paralytic people cured while he preached to the crowds. He was able to recruit 100,000 men to fight in the Second Crusades. But the Second Crusades was a failure due to prideful leaders.
St. Bernard taught that "humility is self-knowledge - the honest acceptance of oneself in all one's sinfulness." This self-knowledge he believed brought one to the "true knowledge of God."
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