Continuing discipleship

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          WE, of course, are meant to be ‘another Christ.’ That is our

radical identity, since we have been created in God’s image and

likeness. And since Christ as the Son of God is that perfect image God

has of himself, we can say that we are patterned after him, and as Son

of God who became man, Christ is the savior of our damaged humanity.

          We have to understand though that for us to be truly

‘another Christ’ would require the supernatural power of God. We

cannot achieve that status by our powers alone, although we have to

put ourselves in the proper condition to be elevated to that dignity.

It is Christ who will do it for us, but, of course, with our free

cooperation.

          This is where the duty for us to be Christ’s disciples comes

in. To be ‘another Christ’ we need to constantly look for him, find

him, follow him, love him and do the things he wants us to do. That,

in a nutshell, is what Christian discipleship is all about. We have to

find ways of how we can turn this theoretical definition of Christian

discipleship into a living reality, spanning our whole life.

          We are reminded of this truth of faith about ourselves in

that gospel episode where John the Baptist sent two of his disciples

to see Christ and ask him if Christ was really the one they were

expecting or whether they should still look for another one. (Lk

7,18-23) Let’s hope that the need for us to be Christ’s disciples is

sharply and abidingly felt by us.

          At the moment we can examine ourselves if we have the proper

understanding of the ultimate purpose of our life, the ultimate status

and dignity that is meant for us, that is, we are supposed to be

‘alter Christus.’ We also need to ask ourselves whether we realize

that we need to be a true disciple of Christ to put ourselves to

become ‘alter Christus’ ourselves, as God wants us to be.

          To be a true disciple of Christ requires us first of all to

look for him and find him. Encountering Christ should not be a

problem, since Christ is always with us. It’s rather us who have to

learn to acknowledge his presence and to start dealing with him. We

should have the same interest in Christ as those who first met Christ

had.

          From the gospel of St. Matthew (8,18-22), we have this

interesting episode of a scribe who approached Christ and said,

“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” He must have felt such a

serious admiration for Christ that he had to say this intention and

his willingness to follow Christ wherever he would go.

          To which Christ responded by telling him what to expect.

“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man

has nowhere to rest his head.” In other words, to be Christ’s disciple

is no joke. It will entail extreme difficulties and inconveniences.

          We can get an idea of the kind of difficulties we can expect

as a disciple of Christ when someone told him, “Lord, let me go first

and bury my father.” But Christ answered him saying, “Follow me, and

let the dead bury their dead.” This can only mean that we have to be

willing to leave everything behind, even those who are dear to us,

just to follow Christ.

          We have to understand then that to be a true disciple of

Christ we have to learn how to be properly detached from everything in

our life.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Detachment in the life of a disciple

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          TO be sure, a certain detachment from the things of this

world and even from people is required of us if we want to be a true

and effective disciple of Christ. He himself said it quite clearly:

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and

children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my

disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me

cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14,26-17)

          We obviously have to understand these words properly. We are

men and women with material and emotional needs. We cannot let go of

our loved ones if we want to retain our humanity, and of course, of

our Christianity. But we have to realize that meeting these human

needs should be animated by the proper spirit of love that Christ is

showing and giving us. It should not displace such spirit.

          Again, let’s be reassured of what Christ promised us if we

observe the proper priorities in our life. “But seek ye first the

kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be

added unto you." (Mt 6,33) And, “Everyone who has left houses or

brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields

for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit

eternal life.” (Mt 19,29)

          We need to have a certain detachment from persons and things

to be able to give our heart entirely to God, and with him, we

actually have everything else we need. As St. Teresa of Avila put it

graphically, with God we have enough—“solo Dios basta.”

          So the detachment our Lord is asking of us actually does not

mean that we hate our life, our parents and others, and the things of

this world. Rather it is a detachment that asks of us to have

rectitude of intention, that everything that we do be for the glory of

God.

          To be a disciple of Christ, we have to give everything of

ourselves to him and to the tasks such discipleship entails. This will

allow the very power of Christ to work on us. So instead of hindering

our apostolic work, that detachment that Christ requires of his

disciples would only enhance that work.

          Detachment does not remove our involvement and engagement in

our human, earthly and temporal affairs. It simply puts them in the

right context and the right direction. It frees us from unnecessary

baggage. It improves our vision and understanding of things, and

predisposes our heart to the real love which can only be a sharing in

God’s love.

          We should not be afraid to go through the required

sacrifices and self-denial that this proper sense of detachment would

involve, since these can only lead us to the joy and peace meant for

us. We need to do better than have a shallow and narrow view of our

earthly life, giving knee-jerk reactions to things.

          We need to give due attention to this duty of rectifying and

purifying our intention, filling it with love, and expressing it with

generosity and heroism even. We should do away with any ulterior

motive we would be tempted to have. Our problem is precisely our

tendency to take this duty for granted, and so we open ourselves to

the subtle forces of pride, greed, lust, envy, anger, gluttony, sloth,

etc. Christian detachment protects and liberates us from these

dangers.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com