🛖Saint Giles, born in Athens in the 7th century, sought a life of solitude and prayer, becoming a hermit in the south of France. His fame for holiness grew from a notable miracle in which he protected a doe being hunted by the Visigothic king Vamba; the king, attempting to strike the animal, ended up wounding the saint with an arrow. Repentant, the monarch offered him lands and riches, but Giles asked only that a monastery be built on that site. He became the abbot of the community that flourished there under the Rule of St. Benedict, living as a perfect example of today's Gospel: a man who left everything for the love of Christ and, in return, received eternal life and the glory of guiding countless souls to God.
📖 Introit (Ps 36:30-31 | ibid., 1)Os justi meditábitur sapiéntiam, et lingua ejus loquétur judícium... The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart. PS. Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity. ℣. Glory be to the Father.
📜 Epistle (Ecclus 45:1-6)
Book of Wisdom. He [Moses] was beloved of God, and men: whose memory is in benediction. He made him like the saints in glory, and magnified him in the fear of his enemies, and with his words he made prodigies to cease. He glorified him in the sight of kings, and gave him commandments in the sight of his people, and showed him his glory. He sanctified him in his faith and meekness, and chose him out of all flesh. For he heard him and his voice, and brought him into a cloud. And he gave him commandments before his face, and a law of life and instruction.
✨ Gospel (Mt 19:27-29)
Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. At that time, Peter said to Jesus: Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee: what therefore shall we have? And Jesus said to them: Amen I say to you, that you, who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.
🤔 Reflections
👑The promise of the hundredfold does not refer to a material return, but to the acquisition of far more valuable spiritual goods; instead of one field, one receives the fruitfulness of charity that unites the hearts of the saints (St. Augustine, Sermon 100 on the New Testament). To leave all things is not a great merit in itself, for even the philosophers did so; the excellence lies in leaving all things to follow Christ (St. Jerome, Commentary on Matthew). The thrones of judgment are promised to those who, through humility, have forsaken everything, for only one who has judged himself severely in this world is fit to judge others with righteousness and mercy in the next (St. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, Book 25). Those who renounce earthly possessions become co-heirs with Christ, who, though rich, became poor for our sakes, that we might become rich in the glory of His kingdom (St. Leo the Great, Sermon 95).
🔎The Gospel of Saint Mark complements the promise of the hundredfold with a crucial detail: "with persecutions" (Mk 10:30), clarifying that the reward in this life is not exempt from trials. Saint Luke, in turn, specifies that the reward is received "in this present time," and "in the world to come, life everlasting" (Lk 18:30), emphasizing the dual dimension of the prize. Luke also frames the abandonment as being "for the kingdom of God's sake," while Matthew specifies "for my name's sake," offering complementary perspectives on the same Christocentric motivation.
⚓The Apostle Saint Paul articulates this theology of renunciation in a personal and forceful way, stating that he considers all things "but loss, for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ," even deeming earthly goods as "dung, that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:8). He also echoes the promise of a future reward by comparing the Christian life to a race for an "incorruptible crown" (1 Cor 9:25) and by contrasting the present "light affliction, which is but for a moment," with the "eternal weight of glory" it works for us (2 Cor 4:17).
🏛️The documents of the Church formalize this evangelical doctrine in the evangelical counsels. The Rule of St. Benedict, fundamental for abbots like St. Giles, structures community life around the renunciation of private property (vow of poverty) and self-will (vow of obedience) as the practical path to following Christ. The Roman Catechism explains that the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are the surest and most direct means of attaining Christian perfection, as they attack the three principal concupiscences. The consecrated life, therefore, is presented as an eschatological witness that anticipates the possession of the eternal goods promised in the Gospel, becoming a visible sign of the Kingdom of God on earth.