Today is the Memorial of St. Bonaventure. The Gospel reading from Matthew 10 was amazing! I shall quote the entire three segments of what Jesus said to his Apostles.
(1) Jesus himself being a cause of division. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household." This is true, for Jesus being the truth, we are naturally divided into those who recognize and accept him and those who don't. We can be divided on many issues, but division over the truth brings consequences that matter.
(2) Conditions of discipleship. "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever who finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." So the Lord must be No. 1 in our life. If he is truly our Lord and God, then all that was said makes complete sense. Otherwise, he must be a mad man, not knowing what he's talking about. He challenges you to make your choice. So he came not only to cause division, he came to test us too.
(3) Rewards we receive. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reword, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple – amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." It all comes down to how we receive the Lord. Aim at receiving the Lord directly and your rewards will be taken care of.
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