Discernment of the Quality of my Discipleship

Discernment of the Caliber of My Discipleship:  In today’s first reading, 1 Peter 4: 7-13, St. Peter reminds us that “the end of all things is at hand.  Therefore be serious and sober-minded.”   In other words, pay attention to that which is important and vital to your well- being spiritually and to the well-being of others—do not occupy yourself with that which is trivial or of minor significance.  Live thoughtfully! Live a life full of meaning.  Peter then looks at what that kind of life would entail. He says:  “…[L]et your love for one another be intense…Be hospitable to one another without complaining.  …[S]erve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”  Do all of this “with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

How do I know whether I am living these Scripture challenges?   We know by using Jesus as our model. Jesus loved intensely and served others to the point of giving His life for our well-being!  At one point Jesus’ mother and brothers and sisters (cousins) were very concerned about Jesus because He was so busy meeting other people’s needs and being about the ministry His Father entrusted to Him that He seemed to ignore His own basic  needs.

 To what point am I willing to sacrifice for the well-being of a member of my family, one’s wife/husband/children? How willing am I to sacrifice for a member of my religious community or of my parish; for a co-worker, a terminally ill patient, a chronically ill person, a mentally ill individual, an alcoholic/drug addict or whomever God puts on my path today?

Discerning One's Discipleship

Discernment of one’s Discipleship:  In today’s Gospel,  Mark 10: 32-45, Jesus, accompanied by the apostles and other disciples,  is on His way up to Jerusalem.  Jesus knows what awaits Him there. “Behold,” he says, “we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed  over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.”

Walking with Jesus, James and John approach Him wanting favors in His Kingdom.  And the other ten apostles are indignant with them. Jesus rebukes all of them and reminds them that they are off track:   “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” I came, He says, “not to be served but to serve and to give [my] life as a ransom for many.”

You can discern the kind of disciple you are by looking at your motivations and your attitudes towards others who are on the same faith journey as yourself.  Are you vying for first place or seeking places of honor, as were James and John? Or are you one of the ten apostles who are indignant with James and John—they want those positions!  Or, are you at peace, as was Jesus, serving others and giving your life for the sake of others, being, not first, but last of all, as Jesus was in the minds of the leaders of His people!

What kind of disciple are you? What might Jesus say to you “on your way to Jerusalem” with Him?

Discernment: Your Faith Commitment

Discernment of your commitment to Christ

As you reflect upon the following four movements in your journey as a committed disciple of Christ, where would you place yourself? in the first or second or third or fourth movements or in all four? 

First Movement: Exploring Christ

·         Seekers who have a relationship with God but have not necessarily had an encounter with
        Christ.                       
·         Persons who are seeking meaning and belonging and are trying to find their way.

Second Movement: Growing in Christ:  People who have had a personal encounter with Christ and are beginning to grow in their knowledge of God and our Catholic faith

Third Movement: Close to Christ:  People who are praying every day and are working at trying to seek God’s will

Fourth Movement: Committed Disciples of Christ: 

·         Every decision a person makes is Christ-centered.
·         This person gets it that this means continuing to develop a mature conscience and integrating
        one’s faith into all aspects of one’s life.
·         This person fully participates in the sacramental life of the church and service in the church and
       wider community.

(Source:  Rickard, Theresa, OP, “The new evangelization is interwoven with vocation ministry,” Horizon, Spring 2013, p. 10)

 

Discerning a State in Life

Are you discerning the direction you want to take in life?  Are you wanting God to show you what He is asking of you?  Broadly speaking, in any state in life, God asks you to “act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6: 8).  But how do you go about discerning to which State in Life God is calling you.

Sister Clare Wagner, OP, identifies four key points connected to discerning one’s state in life:

1.      Listening to God’s purpose

2.     Listening to your heart

3.     Listening to the data available and

4.     Listening to the decision being made in you  (emphasis is mine)

(Source: “Make a difference! A guide for life choice,” National Religious Vocation Conference, 1995)

 I will develop each one of these over the next four discernment blogs.

“Listening to God’s purpose”:  From the quote from Micah, it is obvious that God desires justice toward the oppressed, the orphaned, the widowed, those  who are treated with disdain, the “have nots” of society, the marginalized, against whom society discriminates. His purpose is that all people are set free from bondage of any kind and that hungers for righteousness are addressed.  Love is to triumph over hatred in every segment of society.  No one is to be excluded from one’s love.

If I am “acting justly, loving tenderly and walking humbly with my God”, if I am following Jesus’ way, then, truly, I am making a difference in the world as did Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi and, yes, the Foundress of my own religious community, Mother Frances Streitel.  Do you want to make a difference in the world as did these men and women?  Do you want to make Jesus’ mission to the poor, the sick and the outcasts of society your own mission? Do you want to participate in the mission of Jesus to bring fuller life to others by revealing God’s love for all, especially the poor (Mission Statement of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, 2013)?

Do you see yourself abandoning all to serve the poor and the needy of this world---needy in any area of their lives—and giving your all to bring fullness of life to yourself and others,  excluding no one from experiencing God’s love through you?