To be to do
By Theoloscience
The background and context for my reflection are based on the three readings read on the Memorial Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin, and Doctor of the Church.
1) Acts 14:5–18
2) Responsorial Psalm: Ps 115:1–2, 3–4, 15–16
3) Jn 14:21–26
Every time we read or listen to Sacred Scripture, a story has been communicated to us. We have read it, and we have heard it.
Reading it and listening to it is almost as if we had been there present.
We also become witnesses. We are already part of the history we have heard. Therefore, we can no longer remain neutral. We have to respond. And our response may be to walk away indifferent as if nothing had happened or to go from being a witness to being a disciple.
As we transform from witness to disciple, we must assume a new identity and, therefore, a new mission. When we become disciples, we put on a new garment.
Now, we have something to tell, say, and share. Our preferences have been affected and transformed. As disciples, we will now live with a different orientation. And if we are married and have a family, we will teach them this new way of living.
But the birth of a disciple is only the beginning of a new life. The newborn disciple needs care to grow and mature. The one who will give care is the Master. However, to reach maturity, all newborn disciples must be part of a community of disciples.
Each encounter with the Gospel gives birth to new disciples and makes them grow and mature as long as they listen and believe. The Teacher is Jesus, who says, “He who accepts my commandments and fulfills them loves me. My Father will love him who loves me; I will also love him and manifest myself to him.”
Here comes a personal question that demands a personal answer: Am I willing to let the Master mold me? If I answer yes, I must listen to the Master, receive his teachings, and practice what he teaches me.
But since we are forgetful, we must constantly listen to the Gospel and remember the Master’s teachings.
Up to this point, we can realize that the Gospel’s encounter with each of us has the power to teach us a new lifestyle.
None of us can put on a new life unless we want to. The call to transform and grow as a disciple requires a free, autonomous, and voluntary response. The disciple goes to the appointment with his Master, shows up, and arrives on time. The disciple is willing to give his Master the best of himself: Faith, time, presence, disposition, goodwill, a sincere desire to grow, dedication, effort, perseverance, sacrifice, respect, honor, loyalty, fidelity, devotion, trust.
Being a disciple and growing in faith through prayer and participation in the sacraments can lead the disciple to become an apostle. And both disciples and apostles of Jesus can be instruments of God’s power to work miracles. Jesus said, “In my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues… they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17–18). Both disciples and apostles of Jesus can feel moving from the Holy Spirit and act to perform miracles in the name of Jesus.
For example, it says in the book of Acts that “There was a man in Lystra who had been crippled in his feet since he was born, who spent his life sitting down and had never been able to walk. The disabled person was listening to Paul’s speech, and Paul, looking at him intently, realized that the man had enough faith to be healed and ordered him out loud: “Get up and stand upright on your feet.” With a jump, the man stood up and began to walk.” A miraculous sign of the Master’s power acting through his disciples.
