Amen I say to you, anyone 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. The Church honors today the memory of St. Benedict of Norcia, popularly known as St. Benedict the Abbot. Born in Norcia, Italy, and educated in Rome, Benedict chose to live a solitary life in a cave in the mountainous Subiaco. He later organized a form of monastic life and founded twelve monasteries that were devoted to work and prayer. He wrote a famous monastic rule which is noted for its wisdom, moderation, and need for obedience. He is considered the Patriarch of Western Monasticism and was proclaimed Patron of Europe by Pope Paul VI because of his influence in the formation of Christendom in the Middle Ages. 
St. Benedict chose a life of solitude in the medieval Christian practice of a literal following of the command of the Lord to leave everything and follow him (cf. Luke 14:26) that began with St. Anthony of Egypt. While Jesus’ command to leave everything behind in order to follow him has been at times misinterpreted and used as a justification in showing a disdain for the “world” (the world was thought to be evil with the implication that one cannot successfully follow Christ while remaining in the world), it is safe to assume that the overriding motivation that drove the likes of St. Benedict to a life of solitude is the resolve to seek and follow Christ more closely. 
In the Gospel reading for today, Peter, shocked by Jesus’ assertion that the rich will find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven, inquires about their own fate ( We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?). His concern was the fact that, at Jesus’ summons, they had left everything and followed him. What would be their reward? In response, Jesus assures Peter and the rest that their reward will be a hundredfold, both in this life and in the life to come. But above everything else, they shall inherit eternal life. It was a response that must have left Peter elated had Jesus not concluded by saying that the first will be last and the last will be first. 
It was not the fact of Peter and the others “leaving everything behind” and following Jesus that was to earn them eternal life. Eternal life is earned even by those who have remained in the “world,” so to speak. Peter and the others had joined Jesus so that they could be with him, that is, to live/share in Jesus’ very life. The life of Jesus is all about service: putting the interest of the other before one’s very own. The life of Jesus is about being the last. It is this that was going to earn Peter and company eternal life. When the likes of St. Benedict chose to “flee” the world in order to follow Jesus more closely, their intent was to live the life of Jesus by being of service to their brothers and sisters.