7th Sunday. Christian and Disciple

There are two basic ways to become a US citizen. A person is born here or a person immigrates and becomes naturalized. A citizen then is expected to follow the laws, pay taxes; that is the minimum really. There remains the invitation to become more engaged as a citizen; to volunteer, to vote, to become better informed about issues and how our various governments work. It is those Engaged citizens that create more impact.

There is only one way to become an official Christian, a person needs to be baptized. There are billions of Christians. Of those billions, there are estimated at 1.3 billion who are considered Catholic. There are an estimated 70 million plus Catholics in the United States Now, once baptized, most simply do the basics and fulfill the expectations. They are expected to go to Mass every week; continue to celebrate the other sacraments including Reconciliation, give to support the church; that is the basics. Clearly, not all even fulfill these basics.

Disciple versus Christian; there is a difference. Not all Christians are disciples, but all disciples are Christian; disciples are those who engage in the faith. A disciple goes beyond fulfilling expectation, but wants to go deeper, feels called to live the Christian life with greater intentionality, with greater depth.  I would say that of the 70 million Catholics in the USA; of the estimated 80,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Reno, the number of disciples is much much smaller.

These past weeks the Gospels have been from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”. It started with the Beatitudes, the “Blessed are those….” and in the following weeks, then Jesus draws us deeper into this. Showing us, inviting us, to become more engaged; to see beyond the surface, to experience the intent of God. Jesus desires not just believers, but disciples.

It is not that Jesus wants disciples for the sake of having disciples. This is not about a numbers game either; it is about quality over quantity.

Discipleship means of becoming engaged not just in God, but in life. Jesus tells us that he came so that we may have life and have life in the full. That means to be engaged in living; to not merely accept the minimum, but go deeper, see deeper. We are not called to be mere observers in life, but to truly live.  Consider what he is even saying in this Gospel; these laws are meant for more. They reveal to us a God who wants us to be truly alive, and for this world to be alive.  Disciples do this. Disciples take what Jesus teaches, contemplate it, and grasp the wisdom to do this in life. Disciples think about how to live and help others to live; to make a difference in the world.

This weekend I was with Engaged Encounter. This international Catholic movement to help couples be better prepared for the Sacrament, the Covenant, of Marriage. They say “A Wedding is for a day, a Marriage for a lifetime.”  Couples can be married and go through the motions. They can do the minimum. And that will not be a joyful marriage, nor one that thrives.  Couples that engage in marriage, who embrace the struggles, who embrace the self giving, who embrace the challenges will find that joy, that strength, that resilience.

Priests as well will have to make that decision; will need to choose to engage in living out the ordination that happens to them; that makes a priest thrive; finds joy and strength even amid the struggles.

Jesus desires us as disciples. Jesus wants us to engage in the struggles of what it means to follow; wrestle with those moments in which we are challenged; pray, contemplate, take action.  Not just with Catholic teaching et al, but in all things. Take all challenges, of marriage, of family, work, of parish…immerse them in Jesus. Jesus who says there is more here to the story, more than meets the idea; Jesus who says all persons have dignity and worth, even those we are angry with, even those we claim to disdain.

Life, Faith is not just simple, clear cut. Life, Faith is rich, complicated…it truly is worth it to be alive and to be a gift to be alive. This is why God created life and us. It is why we celebrate Eucharist; in fact we as Catholic are called to engage in the Eucharist, to not just be passive in this. We are called to grasp what it means in our lives to understand what it means that the bread and wine become the body and Blood of Christ. We are called to wrestle with how we will live out this sacrament in our daily lives.  We can go through the motions, and do nothing beyond the minimum; in our faith, in our life, in our families, in our ministry, and that is all we will get out of it too.

Disciples engage. Disciples search out the richness, the complexity, the messiness of life, of faith, of each other and become amazed by it all.  That is truly Life in the Full.