Be His Disciple
The formation that we should all be seeking day by day is conformity with Christ. It’s within our reach and is the best pursuit, the highest one, offering the greatest rewards both in this life and for eternity: to be a disciple of Christ. Are you one?
The beauty of this pursuit is that it grants us access to true wisdom, freeing us from much human narrow-mindedness. It sharpens our vision to see correctly through the eyes of God, releasing us from much foolishness and clumsiness, leading us towards Christian maturity, divine dignity, and the freedom of being God’s children.
This journey will fill us with the fruits of the Spirit, the most desirable and precious things we can find in this world: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. It also grants us access to His gifts: wisdom, strength, discernment, knowledge, counsel, and more. The call that Jesus made to his first disciples is the same one he makes to each of us today: “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). It invites us to conversion, to open ourselves to living in His kingdom, to let Him be our king and lord. Allowing God to be God in our lives, in our minds, hearts, and strengths. This is the ultimate ideal to which we can aspire, for nothing is greater than living in His kingdom of love, joy, and peace in our hearts. Therefore, he will ask us to seek His kingdom first, above all else, and everything else will be given to us as well.
This requires conversion, from transient values to eternal ones, from selfishness to love, from earthly to heavenly perspectives—this is what Christ comes to give us. And Jesus instructs us, just as he did with his first disciples, to live this ideal as children of God. This is understood through the text that tells us: “…those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:29ss).
If we experience the Kingdom of God, we wouldn’t exchange it for anything else, we live fulfilled and do not set our hearts on the things of this transient world. What more could we desire? No other pursuit or achievement in this world assures us of such invaluable fruits and gifts. And the best part is, there’s no need to go to a specific place to study, pay fees, or adhere to a class schedule. This is the school of life itself, with Jesus as the teacher, constantly teaching us through His Church, always available wherever we are, each time we open our hearts to Him.
To learn with Him, the most prestigious teacher, who grants us true wisdom. There’s only one necessary condition or requirement: to want it. Genuine desire will lead us to seek and employ the necessary means, for if one does not seek, one does not find.
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Jon 3:1-5, 10; Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20
Monday: 2 Sm 5:1-7, 10; Ps 89:20, 21-22, 25-26; Mk 3:22-30
Tuesday: 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19; Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10; Mk 3:31-35
Wednesday: 2 Sm 7:4-17; Ps 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30; Mk 4:1-20
Thursday: Acts 22:3-16; Ps 117:1bc, 2; Mk 16:15-18
Friday: 2 Tm 1:1-8; Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10; Mk 4:26-34
Saturday: 2 Sm 12:1-7a, 10-17; Ps 51:12-13, 14-15, 16-17; Mk 4:35-41
Observances for the Week
Monday: Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Wednesday: Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Thursday: Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle
Friday: Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops