What Does It Take To Be A Disciple? ~ Mary Ann Allen

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

As Mark describes Jesus' journey through Galilee with the disciples, we learn that Jesus is attempting to prepare them for His death and resurrection. "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death, the Son of Man will rise."

However, the minds of the disciples are clouded and they don't understand what Jesus is talking about. Instead, they begin to argue amongst themselves about who is the greatest among them. It seems unbelievable that instead of asking Jesus to explain His words, they turn their energies to questions that can only breed selfishness and jealousy among themselves.

As we learn from the Letter of James, "where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice." It is only through wisdom from above that we become "all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity."

Jesus recognizes that there is now dissension among His friends and He calls the Twelve together and proceeds to teach them what it means to be a disciple. These same words also apply to us; for we are Jesus' representatives in our own generation.

To be a disciple of Jesus, we must put away our desire to be first and so important that we are to be served by others. Instead, we must lose ourselves, forget ourselves, and turn ourselves into servants in the service of others.

We also have to identify with Jesus Himself; as well as with His suffering and death, knowing that our own suffering is to be bound up with His into a living sacrifice. Thus we come to realize that we are not just prone to human emotions, but that we also have the spark of the divine within us.

As Jesus taught His disciples, he brought a child into their midst to show them and us that to be of service, we must embrace and receive the least among us. When we do that, we receive Jesus. When we receive Jesus, we also receive the One who sent Him.

Ridding ourselves of jealousy and selfishness is not easy; but we have help as we strive to become the disciples Jesus desires us to be. As the psalmist writes: "Behold God is my helper; the Lord sustains my life..."