1 Peter 1:10-16 / Mark 10:28-31
It is a natural human inclination and desire to have our needs fulfilled.
So, in whatever we do, we want to know what are the gains and benefits for ourselves.
All that springs from the human need of survival and self-preservation.
We may not say it aloud, but in our minds we will ask questions like: What will I gain from this? What is there for me?
In the gospel, Peter blatantly asked Jesus: What about us? We have left everything and followed you.
Jesus gave him and the rest a response to think about.
Yes, they will be rewarded, but there will also be persecution, there will be suffering, there will be a time of doubt and distress.
But they must remember that their eventual reward is in eternity.
The 1st reading would also reiterate this when it said that the prophets were looking and searching so hard as they tried to find out at what time and in what circumstances their prophesies would be fulfilled.
But it was then revealed to them that the prophesies were not for themselves but for a distant future, for a people that they will not know or see.
So it is with us. Jesus tells us that there is an eternal reward.
And may we realise that it is Jesus who is our reward, now and in eternity.