Now we have to shape what some have started calling; The Church at Home. Although I keep asking myself; What do those who do not have a home do? For this reason, at the same time, I am declaring today in our Holyrood Church a Lenten day of prayer, fasting and reading the Bible in the Time of the Coronavirus.
Be a disciple
Submitted by holyroodchurch on April 1, 2020 - 15:36
Good morning, happy Wednesday and blessings.
The reflection for today is in the Gospel of Saint John 8: 31-42 where Jesus challenges his followers to become not disciples, but rather true disciples. Now what does it mean to "be truly a disciple of Jesus"?
The word "truly" means "really" - "really my disciples". In other words, there are real and unreal disciples. There are authentic and non-authentic disciples. There is discipleship that is just external, and there is discipleship that goes down to the root.
The world is not only divided into two groups: disciples of Jesus, and non-disciples. It is divided into three groups: non-disciples, unreal disciples, and real disciples - people who have no intention of following Jesus, people who say they follow him, and have a superficial relationship with him, and people who they truly follow him.
Why did Jesus make this distinction? It is worrying. It makes us squirm and wonder what group we are. So, Jesus does not assume that all this faith is real. What it does is give an exam that we can use to see if it is real. And by giving us this test, Jesus helps us to be real. It is not an examination of reality. It is a path to reality.
So what is clear here, again, as we have seen many times before (e.g., John 2: 23-25; 6:26), is what the writer meant when he wrote in John 20:31: “but These have been written so that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and so that, by believing, you may have life in his name ”. He meant that this gospel was not written just to awaken faith in people who are not disciples, but to awaken people who think they are disciples, but are not, and to help people who are disciples confirm their reality and be stronger in their faith. The Gospel of John is written to sustain and create faith.
According to the scriptures, being a true disciple of Jesus implies personal growth characterized by the following: Putting Jesus first in all things (Mark 8: 34-38); Follow the teachings of Jesus (John 8: 31-32); Bear fruit (John 15: 5-8); Loving other disciples (John 13: 34-35); share the Good News - make disciples of others (Matthew 28: 18-20).
Today's invitation is for us to honestly make a diagnosis and find out if we truly are disciples of Jesus.
Blessings
Fr. Luis +
Date news:
Wednesday, April 1, 2020 - 15:30
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