Tag: disciples

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Saint of the Day – August 29 – The Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist

The Story of the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist (1st. century)

The drunken oath of a king with a shallow sense of honor, a seductive dance and the hateful heart of a queen combined to bring about the martyrdom of John the Baptist. The greatest of prophets suffered the fate of so many Old Testament prophets before him: rejection and martyrdom. The “voice crying in the desert” did not hesitate to accuse the guilty, did not hesitate to speak the truth. But why? What possesses a man that he would give up his very life?

This great religious reformer was sent by God to prepare the people for the Messiah. His vocation was one of selfless giving. The only power that he claimed was the Spirit of Yahweh. “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).

Scripture tells us that many people followed John looking to him for hope, perhaps in anticipation of some great messianic power. John never allowed himself the false honor of receiving these people for his own glory. He knew his calling was one of preparation. When the time came, he led his disciples to Jesus: “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God.’ The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37).

It is John the Baptist who has pointed the way to Christ. John’s life and death were a giving over of self for God and other people. His simple style of life was one of complete detachment from earthly possessions. His heart was centered on God and the call that he heard from the Spirit of God speaking to his heart. Confident of God’s grace, he had the courage to speak words of condemnation, repentance, and salvation.

Reflection

Each of us has a calling to which we must listen. No one will ever repeat the mission of John, and yet all of us are called to that very mission. It is the role of the Christian to witness to Jesus. Whatever our position in this world, we are called to be disciples of Christ. By our words and deeds, others should realize that we live in the joy of knowing that Jesus is Lord. We do not have to depend upon our own limited resources, but can draw strength from the vastness of Christ’s saving grace.

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Minute Meditation – Disciples Have Passion

We can walk with Jesus, whose mission will be accomplished whether we like it or not, or we can grasp at our fleeting comforts, getting in his way. It doesn’t seem like much of a choice to me. If we want to follow after Jesus, we need to let go of our apathy and laziness, the comfort that comes from being disconnected from others, and begin to truly care. Discipleship is about a life of passion, about giving our lives completely over to the mission that Christ is calling us to. Either we’re fully in, or we’re not in at all.

— from the book Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship by Casey Cole, OFM, page 74

//Franciscan Media//
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Minute Meditation – Christ Calls Us to the Here and Now

Following Christ does not mean that we have to give up our jobs, schools, love of sports and entertainment, playing video games, or our social media handles. At least, not necessarily. What it means is that we need to let go of everything that produces anxiety in us and takes up our time without any benefit to ourselves or the world; it means giving up the trivial worries that merely keep us busy, give us something to think about, offer an escape, or hide us from what really matters. Christ calls us to the here and now. He wants us to be present to people and things that actually make a difference. If we want to be his disciples, there is no time to waste living in a world that doesn’t exist. The kingdom is at hand, and it’s the only world we need.

—from the book Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship
by Casey Cole, OFM, page 50

//Franciscan Media//

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Minute Meditation – Empowering Companions

Jesus belongs to a reality greater than his individual self and therefore would also include himself in the command that we should seek first the new companionship (Matthew 6:33). Jesus, therefore, may be viewed as the primordial disciple of this new empowering dispensation, with all humans called to be co-disciples—not for but with Jesus. As co-disciples we are called to be friends and not mere servants. And there are no privileged power positions in this new dispensation, wherein unconditional love is the primary driving force. Knowing that we are loved unconditionally, then we are called to serve all others—humans and nonhumans alike—with something of that same unconditional love with which we ourselves are loved. Finally, the word earthing reminds us unambiguously that it is in and with creation at large that we seek to foster and uphold the power of unconditional love.

—from the book Paschal Paradox: Reflections on a Life of Spiritual Evolution, by Diarmuid O’Murchu, page 49

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Minute Meditation – Follow Without Reservation

If we want to be disciples of Jesus Christ, following him in complete freedom and without any reservation, the first and most important thing that we must let go of is ourselves. We must identify all that lives within us that does not bear life, that does not reflect the joy of the kingdom, that does not live up to the person Christ created us to be, and we must die to ourselves. Let go of your delusions of grandeur, self-loathing, and false selves, and follow Christ as the person he created you to be.

— from the book Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship by Casey Cole, OFM, page 3

//Franciscan Media//
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Minute Meditation – Disciples of the Prince of Peace

Pained by opportunities missed, and the many violations of life, still we give thanks. With humility we acknowledge our general failure to imagine much more compassionate alternatives to life in these times. And when at last we realize we don’t know where to go, we are ready to be led into brighter days. Disciples of the Prince of Peace live in tension between grief for all that’s lost and never can be, and gratitude for all that’s given; an overflow of possibility.

—from the book Wandering and Welcome: Meditations for Finding Peace by Joseph Grant

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Meditation of the Day – Bound Like a Thief

“Our Blessed Lord, bound like a thief, is conducted through the public streets of Jerusalem accompanied by a large body of soldiers who indulge their rage and hatred by ill-treating Him in every possible way, and surrounded by a multitude of people who overwhelm Him with insults and maledictions, and rejoice over His misfortunes. Jesus advances, His feet bare, and His strength utterly exhausted by all His mental and bodily sufferings, offering up the ignominy and tortures He is now enduring, to His Eternal Father, for the salvation of my soul. The soldiers render His position still more painful, by inviting people to approach and see their renowned prisoner, while Jesus proceeds on His way in the midst of them, with a humble demeanor and with downcast eyes, to teach us what value we should set on the esteem and honor of the world, and the applause of men. But a few days previously Jesus had passed through these same streets, applauded and honored by the crowd as the Messiah, and now, abandoned even by His disciples, He is followed only by perfidious enemies who seek His death, and unite in deriding and insulting Him as a malefactor, and the last of men. Such is the duration of the honors and praises of the world! Learn hence to seek the good pleasure of God alone, to labor for the acquisition of a right to the immortal honors of Paradise, and to practice patience under humiliation, from the example of Jesus.”— Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, p. 79-80

//The Catholic Company//