Tuesday, May 26, 2026
1 Pet 1:10-16; Mk 10: 28-31
Today’s Gospel highlights the meaning of sacrifice for the disciples of Christ.
When Jesus teaches them about the difficulty of rich people entering God’s Kingdom after the rich young man walked away sad, Peter speaks up, ‘We have left everything to follow you.’
Jesus’ response lists everything that a disciple is expected to renounce: house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, and fields.
What do these seven stand for? They stand for a person’s identity, belonging, security, future, inheritance, etc. In other words, the list indicates everything that gives meaning, joy, and fulfilment to a person living on earth. However, a disciple of Christ is expected to renounce all of these, not for nothing altogether. Here is where Jesus gives us clarity and comfort.
1. Jesus teaches that we sacrifice everything for a higher purpose: to serve Jesus and his Kingdom. We abandon everything for Jesus and for spreading His love among others. For those who leave behind everything, the greatest gain is Christ himself.
2. When Jesus talks of a hundredfold, repeating the list, he talks of the reward of belonging to a new family of believers and the privilege of such a communion. Here, Jesus does not hint at material prosperity alone but also at spiritual abundance.
3. Jesus also points to discipleship as intertwined with suffering and glory. All that Christ went through in his life will likely remain the same for his disciples as well. Jesus wants us to know that following him comes at a cost.
4. Jesus explains divine reversal as divine justice. His criteria for the ‘first’ and ‘last’ are a powerful lesson on discipleship. For Jesus, it is not the hunger for recognition and success that defines discipleship but humility in love and service. Christ’s mantra of discipleship is to empty oneself in love for others, which is what he manifested on the cross.
Let us pray that we may understand the true meaning of sacrifice in following Christ.
Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar
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