Discipleship for Christians today is a following on of the role from the time of Jesus. Just as the disciples followed Jesus, we as Christians have also a vocation to Jesus. We can live out this vocation by either joining a religious order or in the form of laity.
There are two types of religious orders contemplative and the apostolic order.
A contemplative order involves a hidden life o f prayer and work. It is a very consolidated order. As a member you devote yourself to the community, although you don’t communicate with the public.
In the early 18th century St.Francis of Assisi founded a contemplative religious order. The members if the orders strived to cultivate ideas of Francis of Assisi. The Franciscans actually consisted of three orders. The fist order comprises of priests and lay brothers who have sworn to lead a life of prayer, preaching, and penance. The first order is divided into three independent branches: the Friars Minor, the friar’s conventuals, and the friars’ Minor capuchin. The second order consists of cloistered nuns who belong to the order of st. Clare and are known as Poor Clares (P.C.). The Third Order consists of religious and laymen and women who try to emulate Saint Francis' spirit by performing works of teaching, charity, and social service. Strictly speaking, the latter order consists of the Third Order Secular, whose lay members live in the world without vows; and the Third Order Regular, whose members live in religious communities under vow. Congregations of these religious men and women are numerous all over the Roman Catholic world. The Franciscans are the largest religious order in the Roman Catholic Church. They have contributed a total of 98 saints and six popes to the church.
Poor Clare’s practices have varied greatly as each convent is largely autonomous. But, generally Poor Clares is regarded as the most austere women’s order of the Roman Catholic Church. The members are devoted to prayer, penance, contemplation, manual work and adopt the strictest enclosure, severe fasts as well as other austerities. The early Christian hermit, a contemplative order also whose practice of asceticism in the Egyptian desert beginning in the third century formed the basis of Christian monasticism. One of these hermits, Pachomius of the inebaid, st Pachomius organized nine monasteries for men, and two others for women of which have been credited with being the founder of coenobitic monasticism in the western world. The monks followed the example of Jesus’ life of poverty, service and self- denial. The monks devoted themselves to vows of austerity, prayer and work. Believers who chose to go into the desert as hermits are answering the call of Christ.
An Apostolic order also live a life of prayer and work like the contemplative orders, although they work publicly. This allows the people of the apostolic order to communicate with the public and can then therefore care for the sick, the poor, the old and handicapped. An example of an apostolic order is the third order secular of St.Francis of Assisi’ order.
All the religious orders are consecrated to god by three vows: chastity, obedience and poverty. These vows are called the evangelical councils.
Chastity is the quality of being chaste. Chaste means to retrain from sexual intercourse outside marriage and also to lead a simple life.
Obedience is being willing to obey by the rules of discipleship.
Poverty is the state of voluntary giving up of personal possessions and income.
Religious orders may not be the vocation for which all Christians would like to do, and so they may choose to go into the priesthood. As a priest you devote yourself to god and the people of the church. The ministry of a priest involves: preaching and proclaiming the gospel, consecrating the bread and wine, celebrating the sacraments, assisting the bishop during confirmation and generally caring for the welfare of the community.
As a member of the Catholic Church we can live out our vocation to Jesus, by being a part of laity.
The word “lay” refers to a baptized, full member of the Roman Catholic Church. Lay people also have their responsibilities to god, through prayer and service. We can serve god by serving others. It may be helping those who are in need such as the poor, unemployed, the sick and lowly. As well as your own actions many organizations: Trocaire, St.Vincent de Paul and missionaries give money to the poor and you can help them by donating money yourself. All members of the Catholic Church can answer the call of Christ the receiving the sacraments, loving god and loving our neighbours. The seven sacraments are:
- Baptism
- Eucharist
- Confirmation
- Anointing of the sick
- Penance
- Ordination &
- Marriage.
Today we show the values of discipleship through passing on the faith. The parents of a family pass on the religious faith to their children. The family is the power box of the church as the couple is married showing commitment and living out their vows made during the nuptial mass. A teacher can also pass on the faith to his/her class in reading the Bible stories and explaining the significance of the Birth, death and Resurrection of our lord Jesus Christ.
To become a disciple in Jesus’ time you had to be prepared to carry the cross. In today’s society this means having the courage to face persecution or bear something such as sickness. This persecution can also be suffering, loneliness, and poverty. A famous person who went through a lot of persecution was Oscar Romero.
Disciples today show great compassion. Doctor and Nurses are continuously fighting sickness, helping the lives of people and their families. There are many modern day disciples to be remembered: Mother Teresa, Jean Vaniet, Mother Mary martin and Leonard Chesire.
Mother Teresa is a very well known disciple.
She was baptized Aug. 27, 1910in Shkup, Albania, and died on Sept. 5, 1997 in Calcutta. Indian full MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA, original name AGNES GONXHA BOJAXHIU.Albanian-born founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity--a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to the destitute of India. She was the recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace. The daughter of an Albanian grocer, she went to Ireland in 1928 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sailing, only six weeks later, to India as a teacher. She subsequently requested permission to work with the poor of Calcutta. After studying nursing, Mother Teresa moved into the slums. Municipal authorities, upon her petition, gave her the pilgrim hostel near the sacred Kali's temple where she founded her order in 1948. Sympathetic companions soon flocked to her aid. Dispensaries and outdoor schools were organized. Mother Teresa adopted Indian citizenship, and her Indian nuns all donned the sari as their habit. In 1950 her order received canonical sanction from Pope Pius XII, and in 1965 it became a pontifical congregation (subject only to the pope). The order opened numerous centres serving the blind, the aged, lepers, cripples, and the dying. Under Mother Teresa's guidance, the Missionaries of Charity built, near Asansol, India, a leper colony called Shanti Nagar (Town of Peace). She continued to head the order, despite years of health problems, until her retirement in March 1997.In 1963 the Indian government awarded Mother Teresa the Padmashri ("Lord of the Lotus") for her services to the people of India. In 1964, on his trip to India, Pope Paul VI gave her his ceremonial limousine, which she immediately raffled to help finance her leper colony. In 1968 she was summoned to Rome to found a home there, staffed primarily with Indian nuns. In recognition of her apostolate, Pope Paul, who awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, honored her on Jan. 6, 1971. Her missionary activity was recognized with the award of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979.
Discipleship in today’s society clearly shows it had continued to play in a significant role in our Christians lives. The qualities of a discipleship can live in the simplest of people.
