Week 1
Discipleship 201: Honoring God In Every Part of Our Lives
Week 1: Discipleship (Fr. Dave)
We began our Know Grow Go series last fall with Faith 101, a description of what it means for us as Catholic Christians to know Jesus personally in our lives and how to surrender our lives to him. Please see a full review of the four week series on our parish website by simply clicking on the Know Grow Go image. This series will build directly on that and will challenge us to live our relationship with Jesus so fully that He creates the lens thru which we see and do everything in our lives. Our relationship with Jesus truly shapes our lives if we allow him to do so—and if we are willing to open up to him every area of our lives.
The word “disciple” comes from the Latin “to learn.” By surrendering our lives to Jesus we make a conscious and repeated decision to learn from Jesus: to embrace His message, to take his Gospel to heart, and to intentionally direct our actions and decisions in ways that are consistent with Him. Learning from Jesus implies living like Jesus! Many find it helpful to repeatedly do the WWJD exercise: What Would Jesus Do, applying it to every day decisions and opportunities.
The biggest thing I want to emphasize is this: mature discipleship is about giving God permission to change, use, or redirect every part of our lives. Many are able to surrender 80% or even 90% of their life to the Lord, but still hold back on the rest—out of fear usually. Perhaps God is speaking these words to you: “Give up the rest! You’ve given up almost everything and that is good. But now, to move beyond your present sadness to a deeper joy, you must give up everything! Half measures and three quarter measures no longer do it for you; you have to give it all up.”
Jesus promises us life and life in its fullness (John 10:10) and He is eager to give us the necessary grace to plunge in more deeply to this life of discipleship. On our part we must invite Him and we simply must be part of a believing community like we have here at Holy Trinity, making full use of the sacraments, and the inspiration of the people around us.
Over the next three weeks this series will describe in some detail a deeper discipleship as it relates to our daily work, our finances/possessions, and our families/relationships. In preparation I encourage you to consider the following questions as being asked of you by God, and then pray from the heart the Commitment Prayer we did as a community last fall to culminate our Faith 101 series.
Some of the questions God asks us:
Will you believe that I love you without any reservation?
Will you open up your heart to me?
Will you be vulnerable with me?
Will you invite me into the places in your heart that are most fragile and scary?
Will you allow me to revive your spirit?
Will you trust me? Absolutely?
Will you say “yes” to the growth I offer you?
Commitment Prayer
Lord Jesus, I invite you into my life.
I come before you just as I am.
I have sinned. Please forgive me.
I renounce all sin, all evil spirits,
and any way I have opened myself to them.
Lord Jesus, I give you my entire self, now and forever.
I invite you into my life.
I accept you as my Lord, my God, and my Savior.
Heal me, change me, strengthen me, use me as you wish.
Send your Holy Spirit into my life and flood me with your presence.
Thank you for wanting to be with me.
Amen.
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Discipleship 201: Honoring God In Every Part of Our Lives
Week 2: Work (Fr. Dave)
The overall theme of this series on discipleship is honoring God in every part of our lives. This week we specifically examine ways we can honor God in our work. Please be thinking about work in an expanded sense - all the daily ordinary and extraordinary tasks, responsibilities, and chores that make up our lives, as well as our jobs and means of supporting ourselves. In practical terms this is what it means for people committed to following Jesus and who give him permission to shape and use every part of our lives.
All work is a divine commission to be co-creators with God. We are entrusted with the privilege and responsibility of sharing in and advancing God’s creation. It is our work that shapes and reshapes this world increasingly into an image of the Kingdom of God. Our daily morning offering can help us keep this vision in mind: offering to God all our work, joys, and sufferings of the day and giving him permission to work through us, to use us, and to make fruitful our efforts. I encourage you to be specific in this offering, bringing the events of the day, difficult people, challenges, all in our prayer.
We are always in the presence of God. No matter what we are doing God is with us - even in the most tedious, repetitive tasks that are seemingly devoid of personal meaning. And, it is precisely in this activity that we live out our call to holiness. Consider that and the significance of it: it is in our work that we live out our underlying mission: to grow in holiness and to grow in love - and to help others do the same. Saying our prayers and going to Mass are not our exclusive or even primary means of holiness! Our work (in the expanded sense) is directly connected to these more overtly pious activities. Neither are meant to be separate, isolated “boxes” of our lives. Both give worship to God and to lead us to greater holiness and love.
Our attitude as we engage in our daily work is huge! Working with honesty, with integrity, avoiding mediocrity, seeking to give always the best possible witness to our underlying faith, being open to opportunities given to us to make a difference - by our words, actions, kindness, refusal to enter into gossip, standing up for those being picked on, insisting on honesty, avoiding any kind of bitterness or negativity. Doing this well will shine brightly in our world - and will give glory to God. The exit sign at church could well read: “Now entering mission field; Return when you need reinforcements.”
For your homework this week I invite you to make an inventory of the “daily work” in your life and offer it more intentionally to God, inviting him to use all of it to lead you in greater holiness. And take a bit of time and pray these prayers as reminders of the mission on which you are sent.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ’s compassion must look out on the world.
Yours are the feet with which
He is to go about doing good.
Yours are the hands with which
He is to bless us now.
~ St. Teresa of Avila
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
where there is sadness, joy.
where there is darkness, light;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
~ St. Francis
Discipleship 201: Honoring God In Every Part of Our Lives
Week 3: Finances (Fr. Dave)
Few things are as personal as our money: what we have and how we choose to spend it! And few things in our lives indicate our level of commitment as disciples of Jesus Christ, than the use of our money! The four Gospels have Jesus talking about money more than any other topic other than the Kingdom of God. This week we will focus on honoring God by the way we approach our finances: a “spirituality” of money. Fasten your seat belts!
Two questions for you to consider as we begin.
Here’s the background. ALL that we have is ultimately a gift from God and is entrusted to us to use wisely and deliberately. Fundamental to Christian discipleship is a profound sense of gratitude, acknowledging God as the ultimate source of our lives, our loved ones, our gifts, talents, skills, and our wealth. In that context all that we have is on loan to us from God, for our use and for service of others. And, one day we must give an account of how we used it. Ponder again the two questions above, and how comfortable you will be with them on judgment day.
Honoring God with our money is a commitment we make that becomes a habit and a priority. And, we can never out give God! My experience (and the experience of many others) proves over and over the freedom we experience when we step out in trust. The Bible is clear that the first 10% of our earnings belong to God. That can seem like an impossible goal, but here’s a set of steps that can gradually move us towards that and the freedom it brings.
Beyond our charitable giving, disciples are challenged to honor God by the way we use everything we have. That means we will make deliberate, careful choices about what we spend on, avoiding unnecessary and excessive debt, providing for retirement (and emergencies), and living in a way that is responsible for us and for our world community.
For your homework this week, take some reflective time and read the words of the following prayer. Then consider how God might be inviting you to change your current practice of giving, spending, and saving.
Take Lord and receive all my liberty,
My memory, my understanding and my entire will,
All that I have and possess.
You have given all to me. To you Lord, I return it.
All is yours. Do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.
Teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest;
To labor and not to ask for reward;
Save that of knowing that I do your will. Amen.
- St. Ignatius of Loyola
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Discipleship 201: Honoring God In Every Part of Our Lives
Week 4: Marriage & Family Life (Deacon Brett)
Hello, everyone. Fr. Dave has finally let me out of the dungeon! I’ve missed writing to you! This weekend we take up the fourth theme in our “Discipleship in Daily Life” series: Marriage and Family Life. Let’s start, though, by backing up a bit.
The whole point and purpose of our Christian discipleship, whether we’re talking about prayer, work, finances, or family life is personal holiness. Holiness is one of those biblical concepts that it’s really easy to misunderstand by making it too narrowly “churchy.” We think of holiness as avoiding sin, or moral perfection, or being interested in spiritual topics, or being set apart for God, etc. Not that those definitions don’t have anything true to say about holiness, but they’re kind of like the proverbial elephant and the blind men, each of whom is only able to perceive a part of the magnificent creature that is the elephant. Holiness, when we really encounter it, is far more stunning than we might have expected! (Just ask anyone who spent any time in the company of Padre Pio, Mother Theresa, or Pope John Paul II.) Holy people are ALIVE! They SPARKLE with self-forgetfulness! The two best definitions of holiness I’ve ever heard both point in this same direction. The first is the famous saying of St. Irenaeus, “The greatest glory of God is a human being fully alive!” The other comes from John 10:10, in which Jesus says, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly!”
Life in abundance! That’s what we’re after! And Jesus shows us that that abundance happens not when we live for ourselves, measure everything/everyone in terms of our own happiness, or are concerned primarily with getting our way. It happens when we learn to live for someone else; as it says above, when we learn to sparkle with self-forgetfulness. And I know of few areas in life that offer us as much of an opportunity to grow in self-forgetfulness as family life. That’s one of the reasons the family is often referred to as the “domestic church”; Jesus is every bit as present in the lives of our families (or wants to be) as he is in any church, monastery or convent. In fact, family life is a call to incarnate God’s love in a very particular way, each family member becoming a channel of that love for every other member. As I often say to the couples I marry: “From this day forward, one of the primary ways that God will love your spouse is through YOU.” That’s an incredibly high calling, if you think about it; to be an incarnation of God’s love for one another.
Last Valentine’s Day while greeting thousands of engaged couples, Pope Francis spelled out what he thought all of this looks like concretely. “Living together is an art, a patient, beautiful and amazing journey,” he said, “that doesn’t end when you’ve won over each other’s hearts; that’s exactly when it begins!” Family life, he continued, “absolutely requires the frequent use of three phrases: ‘May I?’ ‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry.’” “May I” as an expression of our intention to treat one another with kindness and courtesy. In a world that is often violent, aggressive and hopelessly bound to “what’s in it for me,” “may I” expresses our willingness to tread delicately when walking into someone else’s life. It’s the Golden Rule in action. “Thank you” as an expression of our willingness to see the goodness in others; to appreciate the blessings they bring to our lives; to love them for who they are rather than who we wish they were – just as God loves each of us. “I’m sorry” as an expression of that fundamental humility and willingness to take responsibility that’s necessary for the life of any community, and especially of the family. “I’m sorry” means that I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong, that I don’t always have to win, and that in the end my love for you outweighs any disagreement that might arise between us.
For your homework this week, I encourage you to take these three phrases and make them part of your evening examination of conscience. Where have we used “may I,” “thank you,” and “I’m sorry” well during the day, especially with regard to our family, and where do we need to improve? It’s not easy living right up close with other people; G.K. Chesterton once said, “The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.” But there’s also no more powerful school for learning how to lay down these earthly lives in order to take up the abundant life that Jesus promises.