Christian Discipleship

The discipleship is all about preserving faith, mediating on the paschal mystery (the passion, death and the resurrection of the lord) and reaching out to others to listen to them and minster to them especially to heal their wounds. Let us think about how we preserve our faith, how much time we spent time sitting with the Lord listening to the Lord and his reach out to others.

Time and again we hear in the Gospel about the themes like the Kingdom of God, Salvation and Discipleship.  The Lord wants us to be part of the Kingdom of God to and to be part of His Kingdom we need to be saved. Therefore the Lord needs disciples to minister to his people so that all of us will be saved.

Two aspects are mentioned here.

1.      Salvation

2.      Discipleship

Salvation is coming to the cross and experiencing what the Lord has done for us and discipleship is ministering to the people so that they may experience salvation. Therefore salvation is for all but discipleship is for the chosen people who are willing to take up the cross. The Lord calls whomever he loves to carry the cross.

Discipleship is a challenging choice.  It’s all about loving the Lord above everything i.e., Self, flesh and blood and relatives, persons, places and things. Self denial, self sacrifice.

 The Old Testament the Lord called nation of the Israel. The Lord called the people of Israel to be His minister. Their call was to become light for all the nations. What was seen through them was the strength and magnanimity of the Lord.  The Lord acted in and through them. They had their limitations and the Lord strengthened them and  walked with them.  At times they grumbled they neglected him but the Lord never condemned them but brought back them to the land of Cana. The Lord showed them mercy and love .The Lord fulfilled his promised. Their call was of bring all the nations to the Lord.

What must be seen in us is the power of the Lord not our weakness, the mercy of the Lord.

 In the New Testament the Lord Jesus added one more aspect that is you are the salt of the earth. He called them to become the salt of the earth. The Lord must flow in and through our life.  Through their life the people of the earth must taste the Lord. They must become Persona Christ and another Christ. They must be able to say that it is not I who live but Christ who lives in me. That is the call to discipleship is that becoming a valued and dignified person in the sight of God.  To become Lords salt on this earth. 

We may be persecuted, humiliated taken to task. Our call is to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow the Lord.

Discipleship involves becoming the salt of the earth. The salt is able preserve, able to purify and able to kill infection.

1.      One who is able to preserve faith. During Passover festival the Jews repeated the story of the Passover to their children.   We are called to preserve faith to tell our children the story of the salvation that we received through Christ.

2.      One who is able to purify faith, to give a clear explanation of the believe. Discipleship involves sitting beside the lord and learning from him. The bible tells us that the he explained everything to them in private.  We get a very clear picture about what we believe when we are in close relationship with the lord.

3.      To kill infection.  Make us able to heal the wounds of others. We are called to be sent out to reach put to others. The Lord called us to be sent out to witness him.  We are called to carry the cross.

The one who became the light of the world and salt of the earth is mother Mary. All generations will call me blessed. She bore Christ in her life.

1.      She preserved faith. The disciples were scattered after the crucifixion of Christ. She gathered them.

2.      She kept everything in her heart, pondering and meditating upon it.

3.      She was able to heal the wounds of others.  Wedding at Cana and her visit to Elizabeth reminds us that she was willing to reach out to others.