Tag: discipleship

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Third Sunday of Easter

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Readings
First Reading: Acts 5:27-32, 40B-41
Psalm: Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
Second Reading: Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel: John 21:1-19

Peace be with you! Today’s Gospel is from John 21:1-19. You’ll find a link to the readings in the notes for this podcast. If for some reason the links don’t show up, no worries! You can always head over to my website, www.deaconrudysnotes.org, where you’ll always find the full text for this podcast along with links to the readings. Most of the reading links point to the USCCB website. That’s the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website where they have an excellent resource of the readings used in the mass every day of the week.

Now, there’s a lot going on in today’s Gospel where Jesus appears for the fourth time. Don’t forget, the first appearance was to Mary Magdala, (John 20:11-17). There is definitely a theme of reconciliation, right? Peter is reconciled with Jesus, (John 21:15-19). There is a Eucharistic theme in the sharing of bread and the fish, (John 21:12-13). But I would like to talk about the discipleship theme in today’s Gospel.

What does it mean to be a disciple? I think being a disciple means three things.
First, we need to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. (John 21:7). Now, accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior should change everything. It should change the way we look at the world; the way we see our family and friends; it should change everything. But does it? Look at the disciples. Jesus has appeared to them twice before and what are they doing? They went fishing – and not on some leisurely fishing trip. No! They are behaving like the commercial fishermen of their day – fishing by night so that they can bring the freshest fish to market the next morning.

Before you shake your head or roll your eyes in disbelief at Peter, I wonder how many of us, after a retreat, a mission trip, a pilgrimage or some other powerful encounter with Jesus, just go back to our everyday lives without giving it a second thought – just as if nothing happened? Having an encounter with Jesus – accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior – should change everything.

Second, being a disciple means we should want to learn more about Jesus. Jesus asks Peter, just as he asks each of us, “Do you love me?”, (John 21:15). Have you ever fallen in love with someone? Do you remember what it felt like when you first fell in love. It wasn’t enough just knowing their name, right? You probably wanted to know everything you could possibly learn about them. The same is true in our relationship with Jesus. If we love him, then we need to learn more about him. The Church has a treasure trove of excellent resources for us to learn more about Jesus. Many people have come before us and they’ve left us some amazing works of art, literature, stories and theology as they tried to understand Jesus. From GK Chesterton, to CS Lewis to JRR Tolkien; from Michael Angelo to the builders of beautiful churches adorned with magnificent works of art; to great teachers from John Henry Newman, to Teresa of Avila, to Augustine. There’s so much quality information out there to help us learn more about Jesus. Not sure where to begin? Your parish can offer you all sorts of ideas of places to begin. Either way, the great challenge of discipleship is for us to learn more about Jesus Christ.

Finally, discipleship means that we need to go out and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis calls this being a missionary disciple. So many people in this world struggle with all sorts of addiction – alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex – because they are missing something in their lives. But nothing can fill that hole in our hearts except Jesus Christ. So, we need to reach out to people to share with them the message of hope, the message of mercy and the message of love that comes from our Savior.

To be effective, we should emulate Jesus. What did he do? First, he built a small fire and fed the disciples. Like him, we need to meet people where they are. So, from the beginning, the Church has followed Jesus’ example by feeding, clothing, housing, and educating people. Our concern for people’s physical needs not only relieves human suffering, but also constitutes a powerful spiritual witness. We meet people where they are and by our example, we share the love of Jesus Christ with them. Through us, other people can have an encounter with Jesus Christ – an encounter that leads to transformation – transformation that leads to salvation.

Homework! This week I ask you to reflect on the following two questions.

  1. First, what does the way I live my life say about my love for Jesus?
  2. Second, how can I help support the mission of the Church in feeding, clothing, housing and educating people?

I think by doing our homework, we might become more effective disciples of Jesus Christ. Do you got it? Do you get it? Are you going to do it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

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Second Sunday of Lent

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Readings
First Reading: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 7-9, 13-14
Second Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1
Gospel: Luke 9:28B-36

Jesus…led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them…they became frightened. They fell silent. (Luke 9:28B-36)

The readings about the Transfiguration of Jesus comes at an important time in Lent. As we move closer to Christ’s Passion, we will reflect on the humanity of Jesus. But the Transfiguration reminds of the divinity of Jesus. And of course, these readings remind us that we too need to undergo a transformation as we absorb the Word of God. If we’re truly to become disciples of Jesus, we need to move beyond superficial level of faith into a true relationship with Jesus. But I’d like to share another point of view.
How does Peter react? Scripture says they’re frightened, but Peter starts almost babbling, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” (Luke 9:33). Then, they all become super quiet. Why? What’s going on?

I suggest to you that Peter is fumbling because he’s been confronted with this simplicity of the truth, that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is not an earthly king who will liberate Israel. Rather, Jesus is truly the Son of God who has come to save humanity. This is one of those light dawns on marblehead kind of experiences for Peter, and we can almost sympathize with him, right? It must have been an overwhelming experience.

How many times in your life have you tried to explain something simple, but found yourself making it much more complicated than it really is? Or, how many times has it been so quiet that I felt the need to talk – to break the silence? There’s a powerful lesson I think in the Transfiguration story about being open to the simplicity of the Truth. Too often I think we try to overcomplicate and overthink the Truth. We try to overcomplicate and overthink our understanding of who God is and our relationship to God and His creation now and through all eternity. But like Peter, I think at some point we need to just stop talking and allow ourselves to witness to and try to absorb the simplicity of God’s saving message.

This has implications for the way I live my faith as an individual; for the way we try to cultivate discipleship in our family; for the way we organize and live our faith as the Church.

The Transfiguration is a powerful reading for us during Lent because it challenges us. It asks me to challenge my suppositions. Am I really on the right path? Or have I overcomplicated my faith life? Lent is a great time to stop babbling – stop running around like a hamster in a wheel, and like Peter just try to quietly absorb the simplicity of God’s saving message that comes to us through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Homework. I encourage you to reflect on the following two questions.

  1. Why do the simple disciplines of Lent that we started seem too much?
  2. Why is silence (letting go of thoughts like during meditative or contemplative prayer) so challenging?

I think by doing our homework, we might develop a better understanding of the challenges we need to overcome as we try to deepen our relationship with Jesus as his disciples. Do you got it? Are you going to do it? Well, good! May each of us come to know the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

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17 I Didn’t Know What I was Getting Myself Into!

picture of a couple holding hands

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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading 1: Is 6:1-2A, 3-8
Psalm: Ps 138:1-5, 7-8
Reading 2: 1 Cor 15:1-11
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

“I didn’t know what I was getting myself into!”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say this in pastoral counseling. Hola! I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal and I want to reflect on our readings today from the context of relationships, especially with Valentine’s Day around the corner.

Before we get there, let’s review a few ideas. Who made us? God. Why did God make us? To show his goodness and love and to share with us everlasting happiness in heaven. What’s our purpose then? To know, love and serve God in this world. Another way of saying that is that we are called to be in right relation with God and His creation now and for all eternity. In other words, we want to get to heaven and we want to bring somebody with us, right? This is what discipleship is all about.

Over these past two Sundays, we’ve heard about God’s call and our response. Many people are called into a relationship with someone else that either leads to marriage or maybe that they’d hope will lead to marriage. And that relationship journey can be very exciting, right? I just love when a young couple comes up to me and says, “Deacon Rudy, we want to get married because we’re in love.” I don’t mean to poke fun. It’s beautiful, right?

So, you get married and you try to be supportive of each other. For example, we might encourage our partner to get an advanced degree or maybe some other professional credential. Maybe we encourage them because they love what they’re doing or maybe it’s because it will help their career and thus help the family. Either way, part of our role in a relationship is to help the other one develop – to be the best version of themselves. And that’s totally good.

But if all we focus on is our professional selves, we end up being fairly one-dimensional. There’s more to us than the person we are at work. That was true before you got married and it remains true today. So part of our role in the relationship is to help the other develop in other ways and I’m not just talking about diet and exercise. We’re called to help the other grow in their faith.

Now I know some people might say, “Whoa! That can’t be my role. That’s the priest’s job, right?” Often what’s behind this sort of comment is a lack confidence. I think there are a lot of men in particular who are quick to say that “faith” is not their department. It’s their wives who are the spiritual ones – the ones who get us to church – the ones who teach Sunday school. You can almost hear Isaiah’s protest from today’s first reading. “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips…”, (Is 6:5). Or maybe we’re afraid of being embarrassed because of our life before marriage, so maybe our spouse will think we’re being hypocritical if we try to encourage their spiritual life. You can almost hear St. Paul in the second reading trying to justify his role in spreading the Good News. “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God,” (1 Cor 15:9).

Our resistance and even our discomfort is totally understandable. My experience is that many of us weren’t really taught how to share our faith. We feel awkward and uncomfortable talking about Jesus. We’re very good talking about our jobs or things happening at work. But talking about our faith? Holding hands – just the two of us – and praying together? That’s different.

Ok, let’s take a step back for a minute. Life can be messy and the way things turn out may not be what we had in mind when we were young and first dating. Maybe my spouse didn’t become widely successful and independently wealthy. Maybe I thought I’d be a stay-at-home parent, but our finances required me to go work. Maybe because I can’t enjoy some of the things my friends have or go on the kinds of trips they go on. Or maybe my spouse is always traveling for work and when they’re home they’ve got to do some important work-related networking, life golf, so they’re gone a significant percentage of the time. Maybe when they’re home they’re really not home because they’re focused on their computers or their smart phones. Maybe I am start to feel alone or that all the non-financial responsibilities, like cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, all falls on me. Maybe I start to resent my spouse. Gradually, that idea, that emotion and be a wedge that creates a gap between us.

Then we find ourselves saying to our pastor or someone on the pastoral staff, “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into!”

Somewhere along the way, a couple might lose sight of their first call, the call we hear Jesus give today in the Gospel, to follow Him. They’re first call as a couple was to each other. Their call as a married couple is to help each other become what God made them to be which is first and foremost disciples. So, as we approach Valentine’s Day, I think this is a good opportunity for couples to pause and take a few minutes without any distractions and be present to each other. That means no cell phones, no TV, no smartwatches – nothing that might create a distraction. It’s important to spend time together to reconnect and stay on the path.

I don’t mean to oversimplify things. Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge the need as a couple to not only seek spiritual guidance, but professional help with a reputable Christian marriage and family therapist who values Christian marriage. We need to be open to do what we can to nurture our relationship so that we can to get our relationships back on track. Yes, that might be a little scary, especially if we’ve allowed things to really get out of hand – if we’ve convinced ourselves that divorce is the only logical option. But as Jesus tells Peter in today’s Gospel, “Do not be afraid,” (Lk 5:10). If we really believe – if we really believe that the Eucharist is the body, the blood, the soul and the divinity of Jesus, then we need to put our trust in Him. Jesus, I trust in you! That simple prayer of St. Faustina should always be on our lips.

Homework! Being nourished by the Eucharist and in the Word proclaimed, let’s work on these two points:

  1. Think about your spouse or your significant other, whether they are alive or they’ve passed away, and pray for your them. Pray for God’s grace upon them.
  2. Pray about the ways you can help each other be the people God made you to be.

If you find it difficult to pray for your spouse, that’s ok. I think that’s a sign that somethings wrong and that there is a need for healing and reconciliation. It’s never too late, and you are not alone. So take the opportunity to reach out to your spouse or reach out to someone on the pastoral staff or a reputable Christian marriage and family therapist who values Christian marriage to help you. Remember, answering “the call” starts in our own families. Do you got it? Good! May each of us come to know the mercy and the love of Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Further Reading:

  1. For Your Marriage
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church 1605: Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another

Photo credit: Picture by Sam Caplat https://www.flickr.com/photos/samcaplat/4521089467.
Creative commons, some rights reserved. Picture license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. This image was originally posted to Flickr by samcaplat at https://www.flickr.com/photos/39640647@N02/4521089467. It was reviewed on 7 August 2014 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.