Positive Elements in Discipleship (contd)
Follow Jesus: The third step is to follow or go with Jesus after denial of self and taking up the cross. All the Apostles who followed Jesus were martyred except John the Evangelist, who, it seems, survived an attempt to fry him in boiling oil ! Even John the Baptist as well as the chosen vessel for the Gentiles, Paul, faced the wrath of the sword. What is the mystery behind this kind of an end to the close followers of Jesus? It is the same Paschal Mystery inaugurated by Jesus himself through his sufferings, death and resurrection. The very same mystery is sacramentally entered into by each one of us baptized into Jesus Christ. At this point one might say that martyrdom is not inevitable in Christian life as can be seen from John the Apostle's natural death at the ripe age of around 100 years, the peaceful and well protected life and death of so many saints and above all the natural end of life of Mary, the Mother of god. The Church does not hold a definite opinion about the death of Our Lady, but it is a defined dogma that at the end of her life in this world she was taken up into heaven (Assumption) body and soul to be with her Son. From these instances it is clear that it is immaterial what kind of death one meets with as the most important point is the kind of life one leads in this world. It also reminds us that death is not something that is in our control and we are responsible for only that which is in our control, i. e., our life till our death. To see whether our life has some similarity to the passion of Jesus Christ is the only contribution we can make in the process of transformation of our life culminating in our death. To follow Jesus means, therefore, to carry our daily crosses in such a way that at our death , that is our Golgotha, a true sacrifice can be offered to the Father in the manner of Christ's sacrifice.
True followers of Jesus do not find it a burden to follow him, because his burden is light and his yoke is easy. If there is a contrary feeling, it means that extraneous additions are made to the burden and yoke of Jesus that do not allow the follower to be a genuine seeker after truth. A follower of Jesus should have love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, fidelity, goodness, long-suffering and self-control (See Galatians, 5: 22-23) that will make him or her a genuine human being with a sterling character. Such a follower will be able to see God because of a pure heart. The importance of purity of heart cannot be stressed enough as what defiles a person is what comes out of one's heart. Rituals and celebrations are valuable before God only if a pure heart bears testimony from within those religious performances. What about the weaknesses of the followers of Jesus? As human beings all are sinners and have weaknesses. As Paul says, when I am weak I am strong. Our weaknesses should be turned into points of strength in as far as they are vehicles of God's graces. With prayer, vigilance and constant fight with the evil surrounding us , the grace of God will enable us to face our weaknesses in following Jesus. It follows that a genuine disciple of Jesus will be a good human being. Since grace builds on nature, normal and basic qualities of a decent human being are presupposed in the follower of Jesus who would be a disciple. Without that kind of necessary foundation, any show of pomp, authority, condescension and show of benevolence by anyone claiming to be a disciple of Jesus suffers from a sense of illusion bordering on psychotic dispositions.
Relationship with the Father: It is evident from the Gospels that anybody and everybody cannot be a disciple of Jesus. There are certain conditions out of which we have already seen three in some detail. However, the most prominent condition of discipleship is the fourth one we are dealing with presently. For someone to be a disciple of Jesus, he or she has to be drawn by the Father Himself (See John, 6: 44). Unless the Father reveals the mystery of the Son , no one can come to Jesus and profess faith in him (See Matthew, 16: 17-18; John, 6: 65). The Father is the one who gives disciples to Jesus (See John, 6: 37). Thus, the beginning of discipleship starts with the initiative of the Father. The end of discipleship also brings the Father into the picture as the reward of discipleship is related to the glory of the Father shared by the Son (See Matthew, 16: 27; Mark, 8: 38; Luke, 9: 26). Without the grace coming from God , that is free and gratuitous, no one can be a disciple of Jesus. On the other hand, Those who have already received this grace to be disciples of Jesus are commanded to make disciples of all nations through the Gospel Proclamation. Here is the marvel of co-worker-ship of the disciple with God in fulfilling His designs! (To be Contd).
Follow Jesus: The third step is to follow or go with Jesus after denial of self and taking up the cross. All the Apostles who followed Jesus were martyred except John the Evangelist, who, it seems, survived an attempt to fry him in boiling oil ! Even John the Baptist as well as the chosen vessel for the Gentiles, Paul, faced the wrath of the sword. What is the mystery behind this kind of an end to the close followers of Jesus? It is the same Paschal Mystery inaugurated by Jesus himself through his sufferings, death and resurrection. The very same mystery is sacramentally entered into by each one of us baptized into Jesus Christ. At this point one might say that martyrdom is not inevitable in Christian life as can be seen from John the Apostle's natural death at the ripe age of around 100 years, the peaceful and well protected life and death of so many saints and above all the natural end of life of Mary, the Mother of god. The Church does not hold a definite opinion about the death of Our Lady, but it is a defined dogma that at the end of her life in this world she was taken up into heaven (Assumption) body and soul to be with her Son. From these instances it is clear that it is immaterial what kind of death one meets with as the most important point is the kind of life one leads in this world. It also reminds us that death is not something that is in our control and we are responsible for only that which is in our control, i. e., our life till our death. To see whether our life has some similarity to the passion of Jesus Christ is the only contribution we can make in the process of transformation of our life culminating in our death. To follow Jesus means, therefore, to carry our daily crosses in such a way that at our death , that is our Golgotha, a true sacrifice can be offered to the Father in the manner of Christ's sacrifice.
True followers of Jesus do not find it a burden to follow him, because his burden is light and his yoke is easy. If there is a contrary feeling, it means that extraneous additions are made to the burden and yoke of Jesus that do not allow the follower to be a genuine seeker after truth. A follower of Jesus should have love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, fidelity, goodness, long-suffering and self-control (See Galatians, 5: 22-23) that will make him or her a genuine human being with a sterling character. Such a follower will be able to see God because of a pure heart. The importance of purity of heart cannot be stressed enough as what defiles a person is what comes out of one's heart. Rituals and celebrations are valuable before God only if a pure heart bears testimony from within those religious performances. What about the weaknesses of the followers of Jesus? As human beings all are sinners and have weaknesses. As Paul says, when I am weak I am strong. Our weaknesses should be turned into points of strength in as far as they are vehicles of God's graces. With prayer, vigilance and constant fight with the evil surrounding us , the grace of God will enable us to face our weaknesses in following Jesus. It follows that a genuine disciple of Jesus will be a good human being. Since grace builds on nature, normal and basic qualities of a decent human being are presupposed in the follower of Jesus who would be a disciple. Without that kind of necessary foundation, any show of pomp, authority, condescension and show of benevolence by anyone claiming to be a disciple of Jesus suffers from a sense of illusion bordering on psychotic dispositions.
Relationship with the Father: It is evident from the Gospels that anybody and everybody cannot be a disciple of Jesus. There are certain conditions out of which we have already seen three in some detail. However, the most prominent condition of discipleship is the fourth one we are dealing with presently. For someone to be a disciple of Jesus, he or she has to be drawn by the Father Himself (See John, 6: 44). Unless the Father reveals the mystery of the Son , no one can come to Jesus and profess faith in him (See Matthew, 16: 17-18; John, 6: 65). The Father is the one who gives disciples to Jesus (See John, 6: 37). Thus, the beginning of discipleship starts with the initiative of the Father. The end of discipleship also brings the Father into the picture as the reward of discipleship is related to the glory of the Father shared by the Son (See Matthew, 16: 27; Mark, 8: 38; Luke, 9: 26). Without the grace coming from God , that is free and gratuitous, no one can be a disciple of Jesus. On the other hand, Those who have already received this grace to be disciples of Jesus are commanded to make disciples of all nations through the Gospel Proclamation. Here is the marvel of co-worker-ship of the disciple with God in fulfilling His designs! (To be Contd).
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