There are also different kinds of religious congregations, for instance, lay contemplative members. Lay contemplative members are committed to prayer and private work; they believe in the power of prayer separate from the rest of the world. Another example of a religious congregation is apostolic. This means that the members who fall under this category are dedicated to public prayer and work. This involves passing the message on by showing certain actions- for example: teaching or caring for the sick.
The term ‘renounce self’ means giving up self. Renounce self is a form of sacrifice which Jesus used with his first disciples, and therefore every member of the Catholic Church should do this. Jesus wanted his disciples to sacrifice their own wants and desires. This is to give them a clear mind and a path to allow them to build upon and dedicate their lives fully to God. To renounce self requires lots of qualities such as trust, faith, obedience and loyalty. When the process of renouncing self is completed then disciples are able to show and give love to both God and others. When calling the first disciples, Jesus told them to, ‘Come after me,’ and ‘at once they left their nets and followed him.’ Leaving family, security and possessions behind, they followed Jesus. This gives an example of what Jesus’ intentions and expectations of the disciples were. We can take examples of renounce self from modern day life. For example- getting married is sacrificing your life to give to someone else in exchanging vows. Another example is having a tertiary job, these jobs require understanding of people’s feelings and emotions as well as caring and looking after others. Helping to heal people is an act which God would admire people to do, as Jesus did, Jesus healed the blind and crippled. This is carrying God’s message through tradition.
‘Carry cross’ means that the disciples should be aware of the suffering and pain they need to witness and must be willing to back Jesus fully on his teachings and his word. Jesus called the crowd and told people who wished to be a follower ‘Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel will save it’ (Mk 8:35). The vocation of carrying the cross can be carried out in every day life, for example- organ donors. They sacrifice something that they may need to give someone else life. Another example of this calling is Mother Theresa.
By ‘follow me’ Jesus means that the disciples are supposed to carry out all the duties which he asked them to do. To follow him is to understand his life and try their best to present it to others. Jesus told the disciples to ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation’ (Mk 16:14). Two examples of the calling ‘follow me’ in daily life: - working for charities – this spreads the good will and intentions to others. The second example is giving up for lent. This follows the path of Jesus after he fasted in the desert.