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Discipleship - Following Jesus Christ

Theme: The Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church · Page 9 of 11

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GRM 174.20 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Absolute respect, to be able to speak, to be silent, to ponder to act, are the virtues of the true disciple in order to make proselytes and serve God.

GRM 178.2 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«This is what is required here: sacrifice, obedience, charity for everybody, a mind adaptive for everything and with everybody. Because compliance is alluring. Because he who wishes to cure must bend over all sores. Afterwards there will be the purity of Heaven. But here we are in mud and we have to pull out of the mud, on which we walk, the victims already submerged in it. We cannot lift our clothes and move to one side because the mud is deeper there. Purity must be within us. We must be filled with it so that nothing else can enter. Can you do all that?»

GRM 178.3.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus begins to walk again and His attention is drawn by two eyes staring at Him, the eyes of a tall strong young man who has stopped to let the train of followers pass, as he seems to be going in a different direction. Jesus says to him: «Follow Me.»

The young man starts, changes colour, blinks as if he were dazzled by light, then opens his mouth to speak but cannot find an immediate reply. At last he says: «I will follow You. But my father died at Korazim and I must bury him. Let me do that and then I will come.»

«Follow Me. Leave the dead to bury their dead. You have already been attracted by Life. On the other hand, you aspired that. Do not weep over the gap Life opened around you to make you a disciple. The maiming of affection is the root of the wings which are born of a man who has become a servant of the Truth. Leave corruption to its own fate. Rise towards the Kingdon of the incorrupt. You will also find the incorruptible pearl of your father there. God calls and passes by. Tomorrow you would no longer find your heart of today or God’s invitation. Come. Go and announce the Kingdom of God.»

The man is leaning against a low wall with his arms hanging by his sides: he is holding two bags, full of perfumes and bandages, his head is lowered in thought, wavering between two loves: for God and for his father.

Jesus waits and looks at him, he then gets hold of a little child clasps him to His heart saying: «Say with Me: “I bless You, o Father, and I invoke Your light for those who weep in the haze of life. I bless You, o Father, and I invoke Your strength for those who are like a child in need of support. I bless You, o Father, and I invoke Your love that it may cause men to forget everything which is not Yourself, as they can find all good in You, both here and in Heaven, although they cannot believe it”.» And the child, an innocent boy about four years old, repeats in his thin voice the holy words with his hands held in prayer by the right hand of Jesus, Who holds them by their plump, wrists as if they were two flower stems.

The man makes up his mind. He hands the two bundles to a companion and comes towards Jesus, Who puts down the child after blessing him, and embraces the young man, proceeding thus with him, to comfort him and support him in his effort.

(...) They reach the shore. Jesus goes on board Peter’s boat and whispers a few words to him. I see Jesus smile while Peter makes a gesture expressing amazement. But He does not say anything. Also the man who did not go to bury his father in order to follow Jesus, gets into the boat.

Annotation

Gospel of Matthew 8, 21-22

Mt 8:21-22: Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me to go and bury my father first." Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

Gospel of Luke 9, 57-62

Lk 9, 57-62: Along the way, a man said to Jesus, "I'll follow you wherever you go." Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another, "Follow me." The man replied, "Lord, allow me to go and bury my father first." But Jesus replied, "Let the dead bury their dead. You, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

GRM 178.4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Another man questions Him: «I would like to come with You, too. But before following You I would like to take leave of my relatives, Will You allow me?»

Jesus stares at him and replies: «There are too many roots in your human being. Uproot them and if you cannot, cut them off. One must come to God’s service with spiritual freedom. He who gives himself, must have no ties.»

«Flesh and blood are always flesh and blood. I will slowly reach the freedom You refer to…»

«No, you would never reach it. God is as exacting as He is infinitely generous in rewarding. If you wish to be a disciple you must embrace your cross and follow Me. Otherwise one remains a simple believer. The way of the servant of God is not strewn with petals of roses. And it is absolute in its demands. No one who has put his hand to the plough to furrow the fields of hearts and spread there the seed of God’s doctrine, can look back to see what he left, what he lost and what he could have had if he had followed another common way. He who does that is not fit for the Kingdom of God. Work upon yourself. Make a man of yourself and then come. Not now.»

Annotation

Only Luke 9:61-62 reports this encounter. The evangelist succinctly evokes the allegory of the ploughman who doesn't look back! Jesus recalls his advice several times(EMV 276.6 | EMV 302.1 and EMV 551.6).

Gospel of Luke 9, 61-62

Lk 9, 61-62 : Yet another said to him, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my household." Jesus replied, "Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God."

GRM 179.4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Coming here from Capernaum I was thinking what I should tell you and I found an indication in the events of this morning.

You saw three men come to Me. One came spontaneously, the second because I urged him, the third came because of a sudden enthusiasm. And you also saw that I took only two of them. Why? Did I perhaps see a traitor in the third one? No, in truth. But I saw that he was unprepared. To all appearances, this one here beside Me, the one who was going to bury his father, seemed more unprepared. Instead the most unprepared was the third one. This one was so prepared, without being aware of it, that he was able to make a really heroic sacrifice.

Heroism in following God is always evidence of strong spiritual preparation. And that is the explanation of certain surprising events that take place around Me. Those who are most prepared to receive Christ, whichever their caste and education might be, come to Me with absolute promptitude of faith. Those who are less prepared examine Me as an exceptional man or they study Me with suspicion or curiosity, or they attack and defame Me accusing Me in various ways. The different ways of behaviour are proportional to the unprepared nature of spirits.

GRM 180.5 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

You are granted much more, because as My disciples, you must be acquainted with the mystery; and you are therefore given to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why I say to you: “Ask Me if you do not understand the spirit of the parable”. You give everything and everything is given to you, that you, in your turn, may give everything. You are giving everything to God: love, time, interests, freedom, lives. And God gives you everything to reward you and to enable you to give everything in the name of God to those who come after you. Thus, to him who has given will be given abundantly. But he who gave only partly or did not give at all, will be deprived also of what he has.

Annotation

Gospel of Matthew 13, 10-12

Mt 13, 10-12 : The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He answered, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these. To the one who has, it will be given, and he will be in abundance; to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."

Gospel of Matthew 25, 29

Mt 25, 29 : To him who has, more will be given, and he will have plenty; but to him who has nothing, even that which he has will be taken away.

Gospel of Mark 4, 25

Mk 4, 25 : For to him who has will be given; but to him who has not, even that which he has will be taken away.

Gospel of Luke 8, 18

Lk 8, 18 : "Therefore be careful how you listen; for to him who has, it will be given; and to him who does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away."

Gospel of Luke 19, 26

Lk 19:26: "I tell you, to the one who has, it will be given; but to the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."

GRM 180.6 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Now listen to the spirit of the parable.

We have four kinds of fields: the fertile ones, the thorny ones, the stony ones and the ones full of paths. We also have four types of spirits.

There are the honest spirits, the spirits of goodwill, prepared by their own will and by the work of an apostle, of a “true” apostle; because there are apostles who have the name but not the spirit of an apostle and they are more lethal for the will in formation, than birds, thorns and stones, They upset in such a way, through their intolerance, their haste, their reproaches and their threats, as to drive people away from God forever. There are others who, on the contrary, through an excess of benignity, utterly out of place, cause the seed to rot in too soft a soil. Because of their lack of vigour, they kill the vigour of the souls they cure. But let us consider true apostles, that is, the shining mirrors of God. They are paternal, merciful, patient, and at the same time they are strong, as their Lord is strong. Now: the souls prepared by them and by their own will can be compared to the fertile fields, free from stones and brambles, from couch-grass and darnel, in which the word of God thrives and every word, that is every seed, bears a bundle of ears, yielding in some places one hundred, in others sixty per cent. Are there any like that among those who follow Me? There certainly are. And they will be holy. They come from all castes and countries. And there are Gentiles among them and they will yield one hundred per cent because of their goodwill, only because of that, or because of their goodwill and that of an apostle or disciple who prepares them for Me.

Detail

Jesus explains the parable of the sower.