Peter began to say to Jesus,'We have given up everything and followed you."Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sistersor mother or father or children or landsfor my sake and for the sake of the Gospelwho will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:houses and brothers and sistersand mothers and children and lands,with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first."
REFLECTION
Who is family? Who are brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers? If you leave brothers, sisters, mothers, children and lands, how do you receive a hundred times more?
When I read this Gospel, I think of St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta. She left her family because she became a nun to help others. At first, she taught young girls but later found that she was called to serve the poor and abandoned. Her selfless love for those poor, sick, and dying street people increased her family of brothers, sisters, and children even her community of sisters more than a hundredfold as Jesus promised.
How can we live this Gospel message? As a PAPA missionary (Priest Always Prayer Apostolate), we can spread our prayer for priests and help others understand the human dignity of the priests and the profound purpose of their priesthood.
Missionaries who share their love for God and their hope for the sanctity of priests will increase their brothers, sisters, and mothers who join them in this prayerful mission.
As Pope Benedict XVI said, "Mary loves them (priests) with a predilection for two reasons: because they are more like Jesus, the supreme love of her heart, and because, like her, they are committed to the mission of proclaiming, bearing witness to and giving Christ to the world."
Our PAPA family wants "to see Priests on fire for Jesus and His Church, the Body and Bride of Christ." And we pray to Mary, Queen of the Apostles to make her priests holy. Join our PAPA Family!
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