Discipleship – Part 1

Main Idea

The Christian life is a life of discipleship. Everyone who believes in Christ is called to be His disciple, and discipleship does not mean merely listening to sermons or attending lessons and lectures; rather, it means learning Christ’s words and life and turning what one learns into practical life. The Pope emphasizes that the true disciple is the person who abides in Christ’s word and trains himself in it until it becomes part of his life and behavior.

Spiritual Message

Discipleship requires denying oneself, carrying the cross, and leaving behind everything that prevents a person from following Christ. It is also connected with love, which should be evident in the life of the disciples. Discipleship is not a temporary stage, but a lifelong journey of learning from God’s commandments, His word, and good spiritual examples.

Educational Lesson

The Pope presents several kinds of discipleship, including discipleship through words, in which a person receives a beneficial word or spiritual guidance, keeps it in his heart, and makes it a rule for his life. There is also discipleship through life, in which a person learns from the virtues he sees in others, even without those people speaking to him, and learns from the lives of the saints, prophets, apostles, and the good examples around him. He also speaks about discipleship through books, because a person can learn from Holy Scripture, the lives of the saints, and spiritual writings when he does not find someone to guide him directly.

Practical Application

The teaching calls a person to become a seeker of spiritual benefit, looking for a beneficial word and learning from every virtue he sees in any person, without requiring all virtues to be learned from one individual. The Pope compares Saint Anthony to a bee that passes among different flowers and takes nectar from each flower, explaining that a person can take a good virtue from every person and learn from the examples God places before him. Therefore, a person should have ears that listen, eyes that see, and a heart ready to learn and turn what he learns into practical life.

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