By Sr. Therese Haywood DC, presented at the Annual Retreat Day in August 2024.
A disciple is one who understands,
teaches and does what Jesus did.
Discipleship is not a distinctive role or office but the life of an ordinary follower of Jesus.
Mary
The figure of Mary stands out as a challenge and an inspiration to embody Christian attitudes and values. Mary is presented to us as the most perfect disciple of Christ and the first Christian, by her attitudes, in her own particular life, she fully and responsibly accepted the will of God, because she heard the word of God and acted on it, and because charity and the spirit of service were the driving force of her actions. She is worthy of imitation because she was the first and most perfect of Christ’s disciples. All of this has a permanent and universal exemplary value.
Delgado, Corpus C.M. (2002) “Marian Spirituality and the Vincentian Charism,” Vincentiana: Vol. 46: No. 4, Article 12, available at http://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentiana/vol46/iss4/12.
This example of Mary as a disciple gives us some principles of discipleship to take into our own lives.
- Called and chosen
- Attentive and available to the will of God
- Allows Christ to take form in them
- Announces the gospel of love to the poor
St Vincent de Paul
Many have pointed out the importance of events for Vincent. In fact, it is commonplace to talk about the ‘experience of Gannes-Folleville’ and the ‘experience of Châtillon’. His conversion is not narrated in terms of a dramatic experience of grace occurring during prayer, but rather in terms of his realizing that God was speaking to him through tragic human situations: the miserable lot of the country poor, the abysmal education of the clergy, the abandoning of infants on the streets of Paris, the ravaging wars in the provinces. If men have found a way to see everything that happens, even to the smallest movement of a tiny insect, how much more must we believe that we are always in the sight of the divine mirror of God’s all-seeing vision.
Correspondence, Conferences Documents Vol XI 409 available at https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=vincentian_ebooks
St. Louise de Marillac
God, who has granted me so many graces, led me to understand that it was His holy will that I go to Him by way of the Cross. His goodness chose to mark me with it from my birth and He has hardly ever left me, at any age, without some occasion of suffering.
Spiritual Writings of St Louise de Marillac, available at https://via.library.depaul.edu/ldm/
St. Catherine Laboure
Catherine lived out her life as an ordinary Daughter of Charity who served the elderly in one place for 40 years. Her example reminds us of the call to be humble and to give any glory for what we do to God. She also teaches us about generous devoted service to people in need.
Blessed Rosalie Rendu
The area of Paris in which Rosalie was living out her vocation was described as a place where the poor were poorer, the filth unhealthier and disease more deadly. Families lived in small damp rooms without air, light, heat or bread. Rosalie saw this need and was energised and challenged by it.
Mission of a Disciple
He called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. Lk 9:1-6
He said to them, ‘Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money; and do not have a spare tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there; and when you leave let your departure be from there. As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave their town, shake the dust from your feet as evidence against them.’ So, they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself would be visiting. And he said to them, ‘The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to do his harvesting. Start off now, but look, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Take no purse with you, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is put before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.” Lk 10:1-9
Reflection
It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognise you as my disciples. Jn 13:35
- Would Jesus recognise us as his disciples?
- What kind of fruit do you bear in your life?
- How do you take up your cross daily and follow Jesus?
- What supports you in your mission as a disciple?
This page available at https://amm.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AMM_Retreat_2024_Discipleship.pdf