A Call To Discipleship Is A Call To Intimacy With Christ
When we look at the readings for the fifth week of Easter, the theme true discipleship comes to mind.
What choices really do we have? In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus is accused of driving out demons through the power of Satan. He responds by telling his accusers, anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters. So we are either with Jesus or we are against him. There is no demilitarization zone. Neutrality is not an option. Revelations 3:16 says, “but since you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
What is it at stake? (Ref. Matthew 25:31 to 46.) Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, he must renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. [Matthew 16:23 to 24]
How do we become disciples? By virtue of our baptism, every baptized Catholic and Christian is called to be followers of Jesus Christ. We become disciples of Jesus Christ by following in his ways. To do this we must know who Jesus is. We get to know who Jesus is by reading about him in sacred Scriptures and counting him through prayer.
What is the mission of discipleship? Jesus said, “you are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp stand where it shines for everyone in the house.“
Discipleship is not a part time affair. It is very clear from Jesus that our lives must show evidence of us being His followers. 1 John 3:18 tells us, “children, let us love not in word or speech, but in deed and truth.” In Thursday’s gospel, we hear Jesus saying, “as the father loves me, so I love you. Remain in my love.“
What is the greatest attribute of discipleship? The greatest attributes of true discipleship is love. We see this in 1 Corinthians 13. Jesus said when I asked what was the greatest commandment, “ you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: you must love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets too.“
True discipleship is no easy task. It is difficult. Just look at the lives of the Saints and the early apostles. In spite of the difficulty, Jesus shows us that he will always be with us and we need not fear.
Sisters and brothers, our world is broken and in tremendous pain. Our world needs you. Our world needs me. Our world needs for us to be true disciples. Our world needs for us to be true lights of the world.
