Wanted: Missionary Disciples (3rd Sunday Ordinary A)

“We are all missionary disciples.” Pope Francis stresses in his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, that by virtue of baptism, “Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: We no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries’, but rather that we are always ‘missionary disciples’” (EG, 120).

We are always missionary disciples. We are called so that we might be sent. We are invited to a deeper friendship with the Lord so that we can go forth to share the joy of that fellowship to all. Discipleship is not just following the Lord. It also means being sent just as today’s gospel recounts how the Lord called his first disciples who were fishermen so that they might become fishers of men: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt 4:19).

Let us reflect then deeper on the meaning and implications of this calling in the light of today’s gospel (Mt 4:12-23). First, we may ask, “What does it take to be a disciple of Christ?” What does it require of me to follow Christ? And second, how should we understand the missionary nature of discipleship?

Discipleship and its Cost. Spiritual writers and theologians have been using the phrase, “the cost of discipleship,” or “costly discipleship” as opposed to “cheap discipleship.” These refer to the fact that when we decide to follow Christ, such a decision is never easy because there is a high cost to it. Discipleship is demanding. When it does not require something great from us, chances are it is unauthentic discipleship; it is cheap as it is empty. 

In the light of today’s gospel reading, it is discernible that the cost of discipleship is high indeed. When the Lord, walking by the Sea of Galilee, invited some fishermen—Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew—to come after him, “at once they left their nets and followed him” (v. 20).  Walking further along, the Lord saw two other brothers in a boat, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. The Lord called them and “immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” (v. 22).

If we were fishermen, what would the fishing net and boat mean to us? Of course, these would be very important to us as these could mean more than just things; the net and the boat could well represent our means of living, our very way of life which most probably has been handed down to us by our parents.  Hence, today’s gospel is illustrating to us that to follow the Lord, to be his disciple requires leaving behind a way of life—nets, boats, fathers included! No mean feat indeed.

To turn away from all that we have clung to in life is also a process called conversion, in Greek, metanoia, which means a change of heart.  In today’s gospel, as Jesus begins his public ministry, he calls for metanoia for the sake of God’s Kingdom: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 17). As he calls his disciples, he invites them to a change of heart. To be able to follow him in the path of the kingdom of God, those called have to leave behind the life they have gotten used to otherwise they would not be able to embrace the new life offered by the Lord. They have to turn away from an old value system that they may embrace the new values of Christ and the Kingdom.

Discipleship demands conversion. When we don’t take this demand seriously, when we prefer not to be disturbed as we follow the Lord, our discipleship is a sham because, for all we know, we have not actually left our boats and nets.  We may just be fooling ourselves.

What stands as our fishing net or boat? To follow the Lord more truthfully, what do we need to let go of? A meaningless work? A destructive relationship? Attachment to things? Addictions? Materialistic and narcissistic lifestyle?

Missionary Option.  To use the term of Pope Francis, “missionary option” may mean for us as our decision to be always in a state of mission. Discipleship always implies a missionary option.  Whoever the Lord calls to come after him is in not only for friendship with him but precisely for a mission: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It is not for nothing that we leave behind our nets and boats and fathers. When we courageously choose to follow the Lord, we experience the infinite love and mercy of God; we experience the reign of God in our lives. We experience total salvation. It is this tremendous goodness of God that propels us with joy to become fishers of men. We go forth and share to all people this joy of being loved and saved.

We are always missionary disciples. Discipleship is not only following the Lord and enjoying fellowship with him and with the other disciples; it is also being sent to the lost, the least, and the last that they too may also hear, through us, the good news of the saving love of God, that they too may choose to belong to the kingdom of God.

To whom are we sent? Who are the lost, the least, and the last in our community? An aging parent? A wayward sibling? Uncatechized children? A hungry neighbor?  An unwed couple? A destroyed environment?

All too often we tend to choose to be safe and comfortable with our old fishing nets and boats. Courtesy, perhaps, of our protective parents.  But when we remain always in our safe and comfort zones we do not grow much. We end up bored and unhappy. Life is robbed of joy. Or as disciples, we may just choose to stay in the consoling fellowship of the Lord with the exclusive elect without reaching out to others; such discipleship is narcissistic.   

The true disciples of Christ are daring. Risk-takers. Courageous.  They leave behind their comfort zones--nets, boats, and fathers--to reach out to others and proclaim the saving love of God. Their lives are never boring but are always filled with joy.  Such is the beautiful invitation to become fishers of men, to become missionary disciples.

The Joy in Mission (14th Sunday Ordinary C)

“New Evangelization” has, perhaps, become the catchword in Church circles over these past years when we have acknowledged this generation’s crisis of faith in many Christian countries due to the inroads of secularist and materialist way of thinking.  We recall during the Year of Faith (2012), we were exhorted by Pope Benedict XVI “to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith” [PF, no. 6]. We were invited to engage in the task of evangelization with renewed joy and enthusiasm.

In one of the anniversary celebrations of the Couples for Christ held in Manila I brushed elbows with thousands of lay people swarming the Quirino Grandstand to thank God for the blessings and fruits of their mission worldwide.  I met many of the lay leaders whose all-out commitment to the work of evangelization puts me to shame. And their sense of mission to spread the gospel to “the ends of the earth” is characterized by obvious and contagious joy and enthusiasm.  Deep inside me was a growing confidence that God is, indeed, listening to the prayer of His Church for more labourers in his Kingdom. This time, God is calling and sending more from the “rank” of the laity.

Era of the Laity. Today’s gospel (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20) recounts the appointment of the seventy two disciples whom the Lord sent for the mission of proclaiming the reign of God.  Clearly the Lord sees the need, apart from the twelve apostles, for more collaborators in the mission. The work of evangelization, if it is to make a dent in today’s crisis of faith among Christian countries, cannot remain an exclusive task of the ordained ministers. In the spirit of the 2^nd Vatican Council and ensuing papal exhortations, lay apostolate ought to flourish and be propelled to rejuvenate the life of the Church. The Church, dominantly controlled by the ordained ministers, has to pave the way for lay empowerment and participation in her mission.  It must be, for the ordained, a joy to behold that the lay who have been evangelized are now themselves effective and joyful evangelizers!

Clericalism, which assigns the sole authority over almost all the aspects of ecclesial life to the rank of the ordained and sees the role of the laity in terms of the submissive stance of “paying, praying and obeying,” has to become a thing of the past. The life and mission of the Church will be blessed with abundant fruits and great harvests as we empower the lay and send them as collaborators in the work of proclaiming the reign of God.

As we pray for more workers for God’s abundant harvest (v. 2), we implore for more vocations not only for the religious and priestly ministry. This prayer should also be an ardent appeal for more committed lay collaborators who, by their joyful witnessing of God’s love and mercy, proclaim to the world that God’s reign is at hand.

The Joy of Discipleship-in-mission.  So much for the difficult and hard demands of discipleship, today’s gospel points out the joy inherent in the fulfilment of the mission of a disciple. Discipleship, even if often described as costly, difficult, not-a-walk-in-the-park commitment, is nonetheless characterized by joy.  It is not a surprise, for instance, that the list of the ten happiest jobs (according to the General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago) is topped by the clergy and followed by other service-oriented professions.  Among these professions, the least worldly are reported to be the happiest of all. The happiness is observed to be directly proportionate to the ability and opportunity to be of service—a distinctive mark of Christian discipleship.

The gospel recounts that the seventy two returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name” (v. 17).

The meaning of discipleship does not rest only in the act of following and in the painful learning of the discipline and teachings. It finds its fulfillment in being sent. What brings so much joy and evokes enthusiasm is the dynamic life brought about by discipleship-in-mission.  A disciple who stays in one’s comfort zone may bask in one’s security but will eventually suffer emptiness. But the one who embraces the risk in giving himself/herself to the mission will find Christian life an exciting adventure.

There is joy in being sent by the Lord. This is the joy of participating in and witnessing firsthand the fulfillment of the reign of God in our midst. This is the joy of victory, as the Lord assures a missionary that, whenever the name of Jesus is proclaimed and embraced in faith, Satan “falls like lightning from the sky” (v. 18). This is the joy of belonging to God as ultimate reward, as Jesus promises that the names of the disciples sent are written in heaven (v. 20).

In today’s context of crisis of faith, where are we sent by the Lord that we may proclaim with joy and enthusiasm the beauty of our faith? In our parochial ministries and apostolate, can we move along the direction of a joyful and enthusiastic collaboration between the pastor and the lay?