Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

READINGS

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.”

REFLECTION

What does Jesus mean, "... in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, ..." ? Jesus is talking to the people about what will happen after His death, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven. The "new age" will come after the apostles have fulfilled their mission in spreading the Gospel. It will be after they have died and served Him by judging their own people who either chose to accept Jesus as the Son of God or rejected Him as the Son of God.

Those people who come after the apostles and make the same sacrifices by giving up every earthly thing or persons they love for Jesus' name and His Gospel will be rewarded more generously than the apostles themselves. They will also "inherit eternal life"!

Can this be the "plentiful redemption" St. Alphonsus de Liguori taught about? "Plentiful redemption" is what inspired him to found the religious order known as the Redemptorists. Did Alphonsus believe that those who live the Gospel, follow Jesus' life, and save souls, particularly the abandoned, will be rewarded abundantly in heaven?

We only delved into two questions during our PAPA Seminar, August 3rd. I pray that we can continue to learn about the "Alphonsian Spirituality: The Missionary meaning of the Redemptorist Logo.

PAPA "TOP SECRET VIII" is a "meditative study" to help PAPA missionaries to know Jesus as the Most Holy Redeemer and to be "set aflame by His plentiful redemption." *

Let us pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that we will be able to continue to learn more about His "plentiful redemption."*

Refernces

*PAPA TOP SECRET VIII "What is Redemptorist Spirituality?"