THE PRIVILIGE OF BEING A DISCIPLE

   fr. Conrad Saldanha

Easter is also an occasion to rejoice with the newly baptized in Christ. The church rejoices and prays for these newly baptized throughout Easter, especially in the Octave (first eight days). 

Should a non-Christian be encouraged to be baptized in the faith? It is a pertinent reflection because of two reasons.  On the one hand you have non-Christians who have encountered Christ and are living out their faith in Christ Jesus wonderfully without being baptized. They go to church regularly and visit the blessed sacraments, attend prayer and retreat sessions and even keep the holy feasts.  Should this be enough?

On the other hand we have instances of individuals who question the whole doctrine of baptism. Recently, I was told of a situation in one of our populous parishes, where a person approached the Parish Priest in order to receive baptism and of how he was discouraged by the parish priest. These are not new or isolated cases. There are times when one has looked more at the motives rather than using the opportunity to see if they can work on these wrong motives and bring it to conformity; that’s what evangelization is all about.  There has been a case where a particular priest has betrayed his office by baptizing children out of turn, in order that they may be given admission to Catholic schools.  There have been theologians who boast of promoting Gospel values and even making people better in their own religious sphere.

The Archdiocesan Policy on education in the Archdiocese of Bombay has chosen a pseudo-evangelization policy in spite of protest by the then Cardinal Ivan Dias. They opted for a so called proclamation of ‘Gospel Values’ without Christ.  Eyewash! Can Christ be separated from his values? (Read article on this blog site: The great Conversion Debate; 28^th January. 2011, esp. para. 4). There are some who talk of proclamation but only when one listens to them with discerning ears that the deception becomes clear, that the proclamation they talk about is the mere proclamation of gospel values rather than Jesus Christ as the one and only savior.

Though there have been some sections in the church that have been doing a commendable job yet there have been cases where there is a certain compromise while communicating the objective element of the faith. Those who oppose it are often bracketed as fundamentalist.

Recently, I heard that some section of the laity have been demanding that the church should not preach to them the need to evangelize.  They have been talking about maintaining good relationship with their neighbours.  Their demands based on worldly priorities, which they now want to impose on the spiritual minded Christians.  Christian’s yes, but without his mandate!

Is Christ a privilege of the Christians and therefore only their savior?

All can receive from Jesus irrespective of caste, creed, and religion or color, if they are well disposed, but we as Christians, we who are baptized in his name have the advantage of the constant presence of Jesus with us. This presence means encouragement when in pain and despair, and consolation when in sadness and grief.

This is the Easter message, Christ Jesus rose from the dead and now his presence is with us. What is so special about this presence?

It’s a presence, which is the privilege of a disciple. Which means even if the disciple is not praying, nor is faithful to Christ or gone astray, strayed from the straight path and not been true to his calling, yet Christ will be there reaching out to motivate, to strengthen, to encourage, to remind, to convict, to prod like a good shepherd in search of a lost sheep in order to bring them back. (Jn. 10: 1-18)  Whether he succeeds or not is another matter but he will not force us against our will.

In other words, while others may receive by asking or calling upon him, the disciples have his presence in a special way, irrespective. They need not be seeking his presence yet they have it. It’s like having a father by virtue of one being part of the family or better still; it’s like having a teacher by virtue of being part of a school. Otherwise you study on your own.  What a privilege to have God with us, guiding and consoling us in a confusing and painful world.

On our part, what is required of us is a course correction. It’s like a ship on course and realizes a certain danger or lost to its original destination and now realizing its folly seeks that correction which will lead it to its ultimate destination. In the Gospel of John, the post resurrection scene in chapter 21 communicates this truth beautifully. The Apostles who want to go back to their old ways (vs. 3) encounter the risen presence of Jesus in spite of a betrayed action on their part (vs.4-14). They are set on a course correction, especially Peter (15-22). His betraying action is this; he not only betrays the Lord but now he even leads the others astray by his action of going fishing and thus encouraging them too.

In this presence we are not called to pride but rather humbly to seek his purpose and will for us in every presence. I could pride myself for knowing the principal of the school and abuse this privilege or use this privilege to learn the good things from him in personal way. Similarly with Christ’s presence and action in our lives we could pride ourselves and never seek self renewal and transformation. There was a gentleman who once received healing at a retreat centre and from that healing the only message he carried was a message of false justification. He went about telling everyone that it was on account of his righteousness that God had mercy and healed him. You could have Christ’s presence and healing even as a sinful being but this presence and healing is a call for further faith and commitment. A call for a greater responsibility.

All the post resurrection appearances of Jesus reveal this benevolent nature of his love and commitment to his disciples, who are now disoriented, disillusioned, confused, in pain and agony, lost and have even forgotten their original call and some wish to return to their old trade and ways, forgetting Christ and his message totally.  Jesus appearing to them, gently reveals himself, enlightens them, prods them and gives them renewed vision and hopes and encourages them to wait to be empowered by a new presence. He is willing to make use of these sinful instruments provided they are willing to orient themselves to his promptings.

As long as they are his disciples they will benefit much, first by humbly recognizing him and then by recall and repentance, and renewed zeal and strength.

Primarily, all these things could happen to them because they were His disciples. What would happen if Christ makes an appearance or prompts a person who is not his disciple? They would not recognize him at all. They would perhaps not respond the way the disciple would. A true disciple does not even require Christ’s physical presence in order to recognize Him. As he listens, the Word of Jesus burns in his heart, the Eucharist keeps his eyes open and this is enough to send him on a similar mission to make disciples of others.  But to those who are not his disciple these things are meaningless and irrelevant and in extreme circumstances it may be like casting pearls to swine. And there are those pseudo-disciples, baptized as children but never make a renewed response to this constant call. Christ still prods them yet they are as it blinded by the god of this world (2Cor.4:4). For them, these things are only drudgery and a burden. These would find the Word of God, a heavy load on their hearts, and the Eucharist a meaningless ritual and obligation that has to be fulfilled soon, to create feelings of ‘fulfilled obligation.’  There are some in authority who exploit this situation by putting a burning guilt in their heart by accusing them of only praying but not serving.

Yet the warning remains: do not take this privilege for granted. A king’s son can take his privilege for granted and abuse his position only to be dethroned by his father or find his privileges withdrawn by popular demand. He never knows when it could happen but it will. Christ’s faithfulness towards us is constant but yet there are certain actions whereby we break our relationship with Christ; by explicit breaking of God’s first commandment and holding on to unforgiveness and an unbridled life of gratification and debauchery. 

The baptized in Christ are now the privileged members of Christ’s household, and thus his disciples. The more they attune themselves to and respond to each prompting of Christ’s presence, the more they will grow in the grace and privileges of a disciple. Those left out, because of their own foolishness, will only be led to envy and jealousy, and be instruments that seek to persecute the others, all this encouraged by the enemy.

Though the un-baptized could always have Christ’s presence and promptings apart from ritual baptism but the seal of Christ imprinted through baptism on the soul sets one aside from among the people of the world into the household of God (2 Cor 1:22).  A household established and redeemed by the blood of Christ (Eph.1:7). Christ Jesus is the Lord of this household and he holds them as his beloved and seeks them even when lost and brings them back to himself.  On their part they are weak and poor and they know that only Jesus can be their strength at all times. They are always filled with gratitude to God for giving them Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. They rejoice at the Word of Christ with burning hearts, which may even come to them as testimonies of the one’s who have experienced Christ or the glorious fellowship of believers.  Every Eucharistic celebration is a moment for nourishment as they are fed through opened eyes.

Prayer: God our Father, I thank you for sending Jesus your beloved Son to die for us and be with us till the end. May I always seek to know him and his constant presence with me and respond to his many promptings? May Christians all over recognize this presence and respond to it and thus be true disciples of Jesus.