Beloved in Christ,
As he concludes the sermon on the plain, Jesus addresses his disciples with a parable: " Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?" (Luke 6: 39). As Jesus expands on the parable, we note that he is teaching on discipleship. Jesus often explains the demands of discipleship by expounding on the characteristics of an effective discipleship. At the end of his major sermon on the plain, Jesus offers at least three qualities he expects of his disciples, and he does this in the context of the poor examples of teachers of Judaism, the Pharisees, who have failed in their task of teaching and guiding people to God.
The verses of Luke 6 presented to us this Sunday indicate at least three qualities of discipleship—first, a disciple of Christ must be well-disposed interiorly, enlightened, and a reliable guide to Him. A disciple without proper formation and knowledge of the faith would only lead others to damnation. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot pass on to others values or virtues that you, as a disciple of Jesus, are not already practicing. A well-prepared disciple must be fully committed and living the Christian values to be in a good place to lead others to faith in Christ.
Secondly, a disciple must cultivate a humble awareness of the state of his heart. If your interior life, the state of your heart, is not right before God, you have no moral stand to find failures in others and pass judgment on them. You cannot demand of others a moral level that you are not on. Doing this will be pretentious. Jesus calls such disciples hypocrites! In the original Greek sense of the word, a hypocrite is an actor pretending to be what he is not. In spiritual and moral life, such a person sees and calls out the splinter in others' eyes without paying attention to the beam in his own eyes. In other words, a disciple worthy of the call must learn to examine his own life first and align with God's law before criticizing others who are morally flawed. A good disciple must have a deep spiritual awareness and self-knowledge and be slow to declare faults in others. A disciple cannot be hypocritical.
Thirdly, a disciple must cultivate a healthy heart because our behaviors and speeches are products of what we have in our hearts- he must produce good fruits. The heart is the center of our life, where we encounter God and discover our true selves. If the heart is not properly and healthily cultivated, it will overflow into immoral behavior and uncouth speeches. As Jesus says, "From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks (Lk 6:46). We know the quality of a tree by its fruits. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit. In like manner, exemplary actions and wholesome words come only from a disciple with an examined and holy heart.
Lent is three days away. It is a productive liturgical season for us to begin formation in good discipleship. It is time to examine our lives to ensure our hearts are healthy enough to yield the good fruits of saintly actions and words. On Ash Wednesday, we have several opportunities to attend mass and receive ashes to remind us of our mortal nature and call us to immortality.
In Christ,
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
As he concludes the sermon on the plain, Jesus addresses his disciples with a parable: " Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?" (Luke 6: 39). As Jesus expands on the parable, we note that he is teaching on discipleship. Jesus often explains the demands of discipleship by expounding on the characteristics of an effective discipleship. At the end of his major sermon on the plain, Jesus offers at least three qualities he expects of his disciples, and he does this in the context of the poor examples of teachers of Judaism, the Pharisees, who have failed in their task of teaching and guiding people to God.
The verses of Luke 6 presented to us this Sunday indicate at least three qualities of discipleship—first, a disciple of Christ must be well-disposed interiorly, enlightened, and a reliable guide to Him. A disciple without proper formation and knowledge of the faith would only lead others to damnation. You cannot give what you do not have. You cannot pass on to others values or virtues that you, as a disciple of Jesus, are not already practicing. A well-prepared disciple must be fully committed and living the Christian values to be in a good place to lead others to faith in Christ.
Secondly, a disciple must cultivate a humble awareness of the state of his heart. If your interior life, the state of your heart, is not right before God, you have no moral stand to find failures in others and pass judgment on them. You cannot demand of others a moral level that you are not on. Doing this will be pretentious. Jesus calls such disciples hypocrites! In the original Greek sense of the word, a hypocrite is an actor pretending to be what he is not. In spiritual and moral life, such a person sees and calls out the splinter in others' eyes without paying attention to the beam in his own eyes. In other words, a disciple worthy of the call must learn to examine his own life first and align with God's law before criticizing others who are morally flawed. A good disciple must have a deep spiritual awareness and self-knowledge and be slow to declare faults in others. A disciple cannot be hypocritical.
Thirdly, a disciple must cultivate a healthy heart because our behaviors and speeches are products of what we have in our hearts- he must produce good fruits. The heart is the center of our life, where we encounter God and discover our true selves. If the heart is not properly and healthily cultivated, it will overflow into immoral behavior and uncouth speeches. As Jesus says, "From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks (Lk 6:46). We know the quality of a tree by its fruits. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit. In like manner, exemplary actions and wholesome words come only from a disciple with an examined and holy heart.
Lent is three days away. It is a productive liturgical season for us to begin formation in good discipleship. It is time to examine our lives to ensure our hearts are healthy enough to yield the good fruits of saintly actions and words. On Ash Wednesday, we have several opportunities to attend mass and receive ashes to remind us of our mortal nature and call us to immortality.
In Christ,
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
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