What is the price and prize of discipleship? This is possibly what was in St. Peter's mind when he asked the Lord, "What about us? We have left everything and followed You."

The price is certainly detachment from anything that holds one back from discipleship in Christ - material wealth, relationships, pride and prejudices. Only then, can one follow Jesus obediently, joyfully trusting that it will be worth it in the end. But what is the prize?

What Jesus tells Peter must not be taken literally; for no one who has left behind family needs more physical numbers of them. What the Lord implies is that whatever is freely given up for the sake of the Gospel will be compensated for in abundance in the eternal life. The point is not to be driven or motivated by the prize at the end but the process that goes on in the present: one's relationship with Christ as one lives through one's relationship with one's fellow brothers and sisters.

While it is natural for human beings to view matters from a transactional point of view - something in exchange for something, present sacrifices for future rewards - for Christians, it is more important to focus on the present moment; who one needs to be (disciples) and what one needs to do (spiritual and corporal works of mercy). Attending this faithfully, we entrust everything else to God, the One who sets the price and gives the prize for all who come to Him.