Intended Discipleship:
The Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024
October 20, 2024
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Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 33; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45
James and John, along with Peter, formed the inner circle of the Twelve, and they should have known the way of Jesus best of all. Jesus expressed alarmed when they boldly spoke their request because it went against everything that Jesus taught. Repeatedly, Jesus clarified that discipleship meant to care appropriately for others and, as the first reading says, in some cases, to lay down one’s life for another. Discipleship is not an elevated state of being, but one that requires sacrifice of what one holds dear.
The other ten disciples were annoyed with James and John’s request for status. It shows us that even in the earliest forms of church ministry, clericalism, elitism, and honor seeking were dangers to avoid. Pope Francis has made it clear that he resents clericalism and rigorism, and he is teaching that ministry is about rugged, down-and-dirty service. To quote the Pope in his 2013 address to new priests, he said, “I wish you to be shepherds with 'the smell of the sheep.'" Pastors should be “people capable of living, of laughing and crying with your people, in a word, of communicating with them.” He continued, “Strip yourselves of your pre-constituted ideas, your dreams of greatness, your self-assertion, in order to put God and people at the center of your daily concerns.”
The church collectively has safeguarded its perception of its identity. For centuries, church authorities operated in ways to control the spontaneity and vitality of the spiritual life. It created the Inquisition and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to guard the orthodoxy of creeds and the expressions of belief. It silenced theologians, restricted minority voices, and disciplined the moral lives of the faithful. Historically, it lorded over those they were sent to serve. When any institution clamps down on its principles, the voices of the squashed become heard in different ways. Today, spirituality evades the control of church regulations and so much good ministry is being done by well-trained ministers and people of goodwill that reflect the teaching of Jesus.
If you look at religion in an unconventional way you will see that expressions of Christian faith are blossoming. While in some areas, church attendance is down, and many people are studying Scripture, reflecting upon the intersection of faith and science, and faith and culture. Spirituality remains an underestimated power, and it is surging in unexpected ways. Faith is often expressed in service to others. Spirituality still exists with those who are done with institutions like the church and among non-believers. Spirituality gives passion, vitality, and ardor to the faith. People are still seeking the good, beauty, and the truth, even if they do not know to call those virtues “God.” We church ministers must be attentive to the striving and seeking while kindling the flames that light other fires. Perhaps, we need to turn our focus away from religion to spiritualty and listen to the inspirations that people are experiencing. This then becomes a church that is integrated with the people, a church the laughs and cries together, a church that journeys through the hard times together, a church that encourages and consoles. This is a fertile field because God is in our midst – just in ways we have not expected.
Being a disciple of Jesus means entering into the chaos of another person’s life and bothering to care about them. It is simply spending time with someone and making deeper connections to learn more about the person. Just showing up is an act of love; listening to one’s story is mercy in action. Making the person feel welcome and helping one to belong is a divine act, for that is what God does. God chooses to be with us. God gazes upon us in wonder and admiration. Gazing upon another person meaningfully, without judgments, and loving one another just a little bit more, just as the person is right now, is a life-giving, life-sustaining gift. Simply being together because you like the other person is profound. This is stripped-down discipleship – that reveals the heart of God.
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Ephesians 2) You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once lived following the age of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.
Tuesday: (Ephesians 2) You were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Wednesday: (Ephesians 3) When you read this you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to human beings in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same Body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Thursday: (Ephesians 3) I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Friday (Ephesians 4) I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.
Saturday (Ephesians 4) Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it says: He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men.
Gospel:
Monday: (Luke 12) Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Tuesday: (Luke 12) Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Wednesday (Luke 12) Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared or at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
Thursday (Luke 12) I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Friday (Luke 12) Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way.
Saturday (Luke 13) Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
Saints of the Week
October 20: Paul of the Cross, priest (1694-1775), founded the Passionists in 1747. He had a boyhood call that propelled him into a life of austerity and prayer. After receiving several visions, he began to preach missions throughout Italy that mostly focused upon the Passion of the Lord. After his death, a congregation for nuns was begun.
October 23: John of Capistrano, priest, had a vision of Francis of Assisi when he was imprisoned during an Italian civil war at which time he was the governor of Perugia. He entered the Franciscan Friars Minor in 1415 after ending his marriage. He preached missions throughout Europe including a mission to Hungary to preach a crusade against the Turks. After the Christian victory at the Battle of Belgrade in 1456, John died.
October 24: Anthony Claret, bishop (1807-1870) adopted his father's weaving career as a young man but continued to study Latin and printing. After entering seminary, he began preaching retreats and giving missions. He published and distributed religious literature and founded the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He was appointed archbishop of Cuba but was called back to Spain to be Queen Isabella II's confessor. He resumed publishing until the revolution of 1868 sent him into exile.
This Week in Jesuit History
- October 20, 1763: In a pastoral letter read in all his churches, the Archbishop of Paris expressed his bitter regret at the suppression of the Society in France. He described it as a veritable calamity for his country.
- October 21, 1568: Fr. Robert Parsons was elected Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He resigned his Fellowship in 1574.
- October 22, 1870: In France, Garibaldi and his men drove the Jesuits from the Colleges of Dole and Mont Roland.
- October 23, 1767: The Jesuits who had been kept prisoners in their college in Santiago, Chile, for almost two months were led forth to exile. In all 360 Jesuits of the Chile Province were shipped to Europe as exiles.
- October 24, 1759: 133 members of the Society, banished from Portugal and put ashore at Civita Vecchia, were most kindly received by Clement XIII and by the religious communities, especially the Dominicans.
- October 25, 1567. St Stanislaus Kostka arrived in Rome and was admitted into the Society by St Francis Borgia.
- October 26, 1546. The Province of Portugal was established as the first province in the Society, with Simao Rodriguez as its first provincial superior.
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