Wise a while. Tuesday, 28th FEBRUARY . 'And then?' Francesco Zazzara.

Tuesday, 28th FEBRUARY
Mark 10:28-31

Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you."

Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."

Jesus asked the young man to leave everything and follow Him.
Peter and the others were there, maybe smiling at the idea of that young man joining the group.

But the boy went away sad.

Then Peter broke the tense silence to comfort Jesus: 'Don't worry, Jesus' he would say, 'we are with You; we know what is important; see, we have left everything and followed You.' And we can imagine Jesus looking back at His disciples, touched and reassured by their generosity, and His kind voice persuading them that it was worthwhile: "there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel..."

St Philip Neri was a priest gifted with good wit.
One day, when he was old, a young man came to see him. The saint sat in his chair, listening attentively to the kneeling boy's plans while his hand played with the lad's hair:
'And, after the exam, what then?' said the saint.
'then I shall try for a degree in law'.

'And then?', insisted the wise old priest.
'I want to be a barrister: everyone tells me I'm cut out for it'.

'And then?'
'Well, as a barrister, I could marry and settle down and be a rich man'.

'And then?'
'Oh, well, I might end up as a judge, and obtain some high office in the court of Rome'.

'And then?'
'Some day I should retire with a big pension and be able to enjoy an honourable old age'.

'And then?'
'Then? Well father, some day I suppose I should have to die'.

St Philip drew the boy's head closer and whispered in his ear:
'And what then?'
The lad, Francesco Zazzara, never forgot that conversation, and later threw away all his worldly ambitions and joined St Philip Neri's Congregation of the Oratory.

Our Lady,
my Mother,
  help me to understand that it is worthwhile to leave everything and follow your Son,
   that there is a real hundredfold in this life and real happiness in the Eternal one.