Steps to Discipleship

To l ive remembering death (Vive memor leti) might sound pessimistic, but it recalls us to our senses because we easily make choices that ignore the limits imposed by death. This is one reason why we need to focus on our familiarity – the little things in life that illuminate us as light gives way to the magical: the privilege to live and let others live, to think and understand, to enjoy and appreciate, to love and be loved. Accordingly, life’s familiarity enhances our discipleship because it reminds us how God reveals Himself and challenges us to understand beyond ourselves. It should not, therefore, surprise us that God uses familiarity to attract our attention as He did with Moses: “ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There, the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within the bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fi...

Preamble      Unfortunately, most encounter the Psalms within a liturgical setting as short interludes between one reading and another. We take it for granted that they exist without necessarily comprehending their origins. Ordained ministers are obliged to recite them daily, forming the backbone of their ministry (CCC 276, § 2, n.3): ignoring their spiritual richness, decadence infiltrates.       The Psalms animate some parish communities: they are regularly recited, but this practice is not sufficiently diffused. They come alive within the monastic communities whose days and nights are regulated by their chanting, whose breath is synchronised as they pray the Psalms in the name of the faith community. But what about those beyond the ‘Claustrum’: how can we benefit from the Psalms? It is this question that addresses this reflection. Henceforth, insights that have proven helpful to praying with the Psalms are shared. I am indebted to former students, m...

Yes, i t is sweet to be foolish at times : to realise that I need to become all things to all so that I can witness the Magister, disregarding my rights and status (1 Corinthians 9, 15-18). By contrast, God chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; He chooses what is weak to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1,27). This insight strengthens the sweetness of our foolishness because we are instruments in God’s hands. Some presume that discipleship is a personal initiative rather than a response to the Magister’s call: “ to deny oneself and take up the cross ” (Mark 8,34). This confused comprehension proves wasteful because it reinforces our ineptness. Pontificating, patronising, moralising, and scapegoating mark this path: afraid to taste the sweetness of being foolish, we identify with those who appear strongest. It would be mistaken to presume that this desire is not widespread despite claims to be Minorem. Experience teaches that despite the claims and pretensions, the dres...

How often have I heard the Gospel proclaim, “ Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me ”(Matthew 16,24)! Three questions accompany this affirmation: (i). “ What does ‘deny myself’ imply ”? (ii). “ What does the reference to the cross mean ”? (iii). “ Why are these qualities specified as conditions to discipleship ”? These questions increasingly preoccupy me because, celebrating the thirty-ninth anniversary of my ordination, like a good accountant, I need to add up my ‘ numbers ’ and discover the results: numbers do not lie: wisdom demands self-criticism because “ the unexamined life is not worth living ” (Plato, Apology , 38a5-6). Thinking, examining my life, another Gospel passage draws my attention: “ Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to ” (Luke 13,24). The narrow door - the a ngustum ostium  -is identified with the cross because, “ Whoever wants...

This reflection, an introduction, aims to explore Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the term because he articulated it most famously in his 1937 “ Nachfolge ”, translated as “ The Cost of Discipleship ”, written as a critique of Nazism and a complacent Lutheran church. Another reflection will explore the Catholic understanding of the term.  Independent of differences, the need to discuss this theme is obvious, because God’s graciousness is abused by transforming it into a comfortable, easy commodity whereby a faith that challenges our affirmations, lifestyles and values is downplayed. It is mistaken to limit this laissez-faire attitude to the laity: the real crisis underlying religious life and priesthood is our complacency, which prevents a radical rethinking of our charisma.    Cheap grace concerns “ the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace ...

 Speaking of boundaries, not to be confused with imposed restrictions, the City College of New York’s motto accompanies: “Respice, Adspice, Prospice” (Look to the Past; Look to the Present; Look to the Future). Boundaries invite us to consider our past as a means to understand the present and thus, provide for later events. This exercise is interpersonal because “ No man is an island, entire of itself. Each is part of the continent, a part of the main ” (John Donne, No Man is an Island ).  Boundaries resemble invisible bridges, enhancing our humanity by opening passages to appreciate others and how our differences can enrich our self-understanding. Lacking boundaries encourages violence, blinding us to others’ dignity as we refuse to let their faces reflect our own. Their absence forbids discipleship because we are too concerned with exploiting others, not with what we share with them. This misplaced understanding undermines our ability to practice ‘ disinterested committed lo...

 Prayer necessitates solitude, often abhorred because it is confused with loneliness. The latter entails an unsought alienation whose hallmark is desolation. As Edgar affirms, “ Who alone suffers suffers most ” (William Shakespeare, King Lear , VI).  The need to be by myself pertains to a feeling of wellbeing: as Scipio points out, ‘ one is never less alone than when alone ’ (Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus). Growing older, this desired richness is strengthened, like aged wine. Solitude enriches prayer because its stillness highlights an intimate prayerful dialogue even when outwardly engaged. Our hearts’ cultivated stillness enriches our doings by focusing on their significance, so Mary, rather than Martha, addresses our understanding (Luke 10, 38-42).  This insight is furthered strengthened by the Evangelist’s observation concerning Mary, who “ treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart ” (Luke 2,19). The need to contemplate the Beautiful is itself ex...

     We readily limit the significance of the cross to an emblem to consolidate a religious or cultural identity or as an excuse to enhance our misery, forgetful that “ misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows ” (William Shakespeare, The Tempest II.2).      The significance of the cross highlights our baptism because, as pointed out by Saint Augustine, all those who belong to Jesus Christ are fastened with him to the cross, which sets the setting for Bonhoeffer’s assertion that the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise happy life: it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.           Scrutinising these insights, we need to focus on Shabbat’s stillness where the cross becomes a sanctuary in time, challenging our trustworthiness: it expresses a lived-out silentium underlined by the Magister’s reassuring presence: ‘ Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest ’ (Matthew 11,26...

    The insistence ' to babbling like pagans ' (Matthew 6,7) tempts us: it is freely embraced when God’s graciousness no longer suffices, and the cross is downplayed. Following St. Bernard, the disciple desires the Magister rather than his gifts, but this entails the cross as a key to understanding one’s integrity.       The cross is God’s therapy that enables us to encounter our fears and frustrations by recalling us to its silence and how this contributes to the formation of our conscience (CCC 1783-1785). This silence sustains a dialogue of love: ignoring its need reflects an unconscious or perhaps not, attempt to hide our hearts from God: unless God searches our heart, we are frustrated because, as Jeremiah warns, ' You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart ' (29,13). While our hearts are restlessly caught up in a whirlwind of frustrating desires, this endeavour is unrealistic.       Prayer is expressive of ou...

     It’s not easy to discuss prayer because we expose our hearts in the process.  In addition to this, different understandings prevail, not necessarily easily communicated or understood: many perceive prayer as mere articulation, liturgical celebrations, or emotionally focused gatherings. Discussing prayer, Virgil’s ‘ Amor gignit amorem ’ (Love begets love), guides my steps.       Defining prayer, Augustine’s affirmation that prayer is the articulation of love offers a fundamental insight. Saint John Damascene reinforces this discernment by observing that prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God because only our longing of mind and heart makes prayer genuine (Filacolia). Saint Bonaventure’s Itinerarium in Mentis reinforces this comprehension.      Saint Teresa’s affirmation also demands attention because prayer is an act of love where words are superfluous (Interior Castle), verified by Bernini’s portrayal of the sain...

     Every relationship entails an ability to create a space for the other in one’s heart. The ability to do so highlights a maturing but questioning discernment, which reminds us of the need not to presume truth and, worse, love. The intended spaces can either strengthen or weaken our discernment: to bridge with others or barricade ourselves from them. Dialogue distinguishes between the two.        A principle highlights Christian discernment: “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3, 30), which clarifies my intentions as I speak of the Magister. Surpassing an intellectual assertion or a fleeting emotion, the Johanine affirmation recalls an intimacy defined by love because “whatever is honestly done out of love and in accordance with love can never be blameworthy” (Abbot Isaac de l’Étoile).      Love challenges us to renew our understanding of life: its credibility. Our spaces are accosted by a decision to let the Magister illum...

       Growing older and perhaps less tolerant, the old Latin saying   - Silentium est aurem (Silence is golden) enhances its value because it protects me from futile noises, and clarity unfolds. In an environment infiltrated by noise, silence is elusive and yet, in its stillness, my true self emerges from noise’s haziness.             Painful experience has taught me that silence’s aptitude shatters doubt’s commotion. Its stillness enlightens my faith - the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see (Hebrews 11,1). Augustine’s advice thus enlightens: ‘ Enter into your heart, and if you have faith, you will find Him there ’ ( Confessions Bk 10), because in silence, we attune our hearts to the Divine Presence.             Through silence’s stillness, our heart finds its voice: our readiness to dialogu...

     Despite our misplaced aspirations, faith is not a certainty shielding us from uncertainties; it offers us the courage to live with uncertainty. Rather than inviting us to commit intellectual suicide, faith demands truth and thus, the willingness to question. Understanding the significance of this affirmation, the courage to question presumed expectations strengthens. Otherwise, faith becomes myopic, undermining our ability to think clearly.  A tension accompanies the intellectual quest: from Kierkegaard to Camus, a contrasting trend continues to influence us. Kierkegaard’s leap of faith is presented as an answer to existential despair: in other words, what gives life ultimate meaning ( Fear and Trembling ). Albert Camus criticises those who advocate a philosophical suicide by using faith to escape absurdity. Instead, we live the absurd by creating our personal meaning, not escaping it through hope or religion ( The Myth of Sisyphus ). Surpassing this dialectic...