What you get in this life

Many times we hear that we will be more than compensated in the next life for the privations of this life.

In yesterday’s Gospel (Mk.10:28-31), however, our Lord promised a more immediate return on our spiritual investments.

There is no man
that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my sake, and the gospel's,
But he shall receive an hundredfold
now in this time,
houses, and brethren, and sisters,
and mothers, and children, and lands,
with persecutions;
and in the world to come eternal life.

(Sounds great, we think, except for that “persecutions” part.)

One clear way in which this promise is fulfilled is through our inclusion in the Body of Christ – in the Church – for it is there that we truly receive innumerable siblings, parents, and children in Christ; it is also as Christians that we have innumerable houses and places - indeed, the entire universe - where we can worship God.

And yet it is also as members of the Body of Christ that we may (and often do) receive persecutions: from anti-Christian social pressures to outright martyrdom.

Yet even the persecutions – subtle or bloody – give the opportunity for our faith to shine forth and prepare us even more for the still greater rewards of heaven.

If by the grace of Christ we are faithful and give ourselves wholly to him, we will indeed receive: through our family which is the Body of Christ and through the eternity of joy that Christ prepares for us in the world to come.