God's Promise

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Last week I led a Eucharistic Word service in our parish. I always welcome times when we have these services, because it gives me an opportunity to preach.  The Gospel for the day was Mark 10:28-31, and since it touches on my experience of religious life I share it with all of you:
  
"In yesterday’s Gospel the young man went away sad when Jesus told him to sell his possessions and follow him. Today we hear Peter say: we’ve done that, and so? in other words, what’s in store for us? Jesus then tells the disciples that they will receive so much more than they have given away. This Gospel is often used at religious professions, since we take the vow of poverty, and we leave our homes in order to live in community. When I reflect on this idea of receiving a hundred times more I think of it primarily in terms of intangibles, or spiritual gifts. When we give our whole day to God, we often experience a great peace, when we put God first in our lives there is a joy that comes from being on the right path. When we ask for God’s forgiveness there is a whole weight lifted from our spirits. So the hundredfold does come, but we could miss it if we get caught up in our own weaknesses or pettiness. Let us rather live our life with a deep inner peace and great joy, knowing that God has promised us a hundredfold."

How do you experience God's promised hundredfold? 
Marie Lucek, OP 
Juneau, Alaska

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