In our lives there are responsibilities with all we do and with faith it is no different. The practice of faith gives us many privileges but it also gives us responsibilities. In the Gospel this Sunday Jesus speaks of the responsibilities of discipleship “Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple”.
When we think of the Cross we can often think of suffering. During each celebration of the Eucharist we remember the sacrifice of Jesus who was prepared to give everything out of love for all through his death on the Cross at Calvary. Sometimes the crosses we ourselves experience in life are a heavy burden to carry but we shouldn’t forget that through the resurrection of Christ the Cross brings great hope. We can look forward in faith to the salvation promised to us but the Gospel message also challenges to be true disciples of Jesus during our lives so that we can be ready to meet him at the end of time.
Jesus tells the crowds in the final line of the Gospel “none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions”. We may not follow this instruction literally but we it reminds us that we must make some sacrifices to be authentic disciples of the Lord. The call to discipleship is one of love; it challenges us to model our lives on the life of Jesus, living in charity, justice and truth. Jesus is always with us on our walk of faith, he shows us the depth of his love and strengthens us with the gift of his Spirit which directs shapes and moulds us into disciples of his love. But like with any friend we need to make time to be with him so that we get to know him and understand the depth of his love for us. Making time for prayer allows us to fully feel his presence in our lives and enter into a deeper more intimate conversation with him.
Being disciples also implies a call to witness to our faith. We can each further the mission of Christ in our world today by being witnesses of love and compassion to others, especially the poor, marginalised and vulnerable. Jesus gives us the freedom to become aware of his loving presence which is reaching out to us in our lives even in the most unlikely situations and when we recognise Christ and walk the journey of faith with him we can illuminate the world we live in with the light of his love.
Jesus did not say: “go, if you would like to, if you have the time”, but he said: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Sharing the experience of faith, bearing witness to the faith, proclaiming the Gospel: this is a command that the Lord entrusts to the whole Church, and that includes you; but it is a command that is born not from a desire for domination, from the desire for power, but from the force of love, from the fact that Jesus first came into our midst and did not give us just a part of himself, but he gave us the whole of himself, he gave his life in order to save us and to show us the love and mercy of God. Jesus does not treat us as slaves, but as people who are free , as friends, as brothers and sisters; and he not only sends us, he accompanies us, he is always beside us in our mission of love. (Pope Francis 28 July 2013)
