YOU WHO HAVE FOLLOWED ME

Pr 2,1-9; Ps 33; Mt 19,27-29
11 JULY
Who follows a person with fidelity, justice and perfect love, will have as a reward all the benefits and his glory. In following Jesus, one becomes one with him on earth and in eternal skies. Christ is the eternal life of the Father. The disciples are the eternal life of Christ. Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit, the disciples will also be full of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the persecuted, they too will be persecuted. Jesus rises to the highest glory of heaven, even the disciples will ascend into the highest glory of heaven. Divine and eternal goods will be proportionate to the extent of fidelity of discipleship. This is how the Apostle John sees those who followed Jesus up to the gift of blood.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honour, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the centre of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7,9-17).

Even St. Paul reveals the same truth. He followed Jesus the Lord. He was faithful to the mandate received. Now Jesus, by justice, must raise him up into the glory of heaven.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfil your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance (2Tm 4,1-8).

Today this very high truth is as if it had been swept away from the minds of Christians by a hurricane. You want the glory of heaven, but not the following. We wait for the fruits, but without having planted the tree. You want to gather without having sown. Today the lie of men preaches eternal glory without sequel.

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.

Jesus was annihilated to follow the Father. He received a name above every other name. Peter for Christ let himself be crucified. He will be with him in his kingdom. It is an eternal law.

Immaculate Virgin, Angels and Saints, free the mind from all falsehood and lie.