You will have seen the books and videos from the famous author Simon Sinek. He always says that when you join any organisation, you should always ask “Why?” So the question for today is: “Why does the Catholic Church exist?”
The Catholic Church exists for two reasons. The first is to acknowledge and worship God as the Creator of the universe and our loving Father/Mother.
The second reason that the Catholic Church exists is to help every single person, including you and me, to have a close, personal relationship with Jesus as a missionary disciple.
Well, how do we know that? We know, because Jesus told his Apostles right at the end of the gospel of Matthew what he wanted then to do after his death. This is known as…
The Great Commission
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
So the whole job, of the whole Church, for the whole of time, is to make disciples. In the period they were with Jesus, the Apostles’ aim was to not only follow Jesus, but to copy Jesus, to become as close as possible to acting like Jesus as they could. That is what disciples of every teacher or Rabbi did, There was an expression at the time, that disciples are to be “covered in the dust of their rabbi”. In desert-like Palestine, disciples who wanted to follow their rabbi very closely, would be covered in their rabbi’s dust.
St Paul said something similar to his followers in his first letter to the Corinthians: You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
What do disciples look like today?
So how does that work today? What does a disciple look like today? How does the Catholic Church help make disciples today?
The recent Synod talked about 3 areas of life of the Church, which support the development of disciples. They are:
- Communion
- Participation and
- Mission
Communion – from the parish, ministry or school perspective , this means a genuine Christian community. For the aspiring disciple, that means you are a real part of this community. You go to Mass, and very importantly are in a small group, where faith is most likely to grow. And the test of whether this is a real community is, do you at times invite these people into your home? Do they become your friends?
Participation – as a parish or school or Church ministry, you offer lots of opportunity for people to grow in their knowledge about the Bible and the Church. They will have opportunities to pray, to play music, to be a reader, or to take part in ministry within the Church in another way. For a disciple, this is not only participating in compulsory formation, but also a voluntary discipleship path.
And Mission has two parts – “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ And something very similar, to love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark Ch 12).
So in practical terms, in Mission you really need to have that close relationship with God and be able to share the joy of your faith with others.
You must also equally reach out to people in need. Pope Francis talked not about disciples but about missionary disciples. When I first heard him speak, he put down his prepared notes and said, tell everyone to reach out personally to people in need, speak with these people, give them some money or something to eat. It is all about reaching out personally.
The Goal of Formation is Discipleship.
Now let’s go back to our starting point. The reason why the Catholic Church exists is to support every single person here to become a disciple.
This discipling has lots of names, such as conversion, holiness, faith development, saintliness and more. In the Vatican document The Catholic School, it “is the growth of the virtues characteristic of the Christian”. But the word we use most today is formation. Formation is the framework which inspires, guides and supports people to consider taking up new practices or disciplines in their life, for example prayer, which will enable them to feel God’s presence and grow closer to Jesus.
Of course, we can’t make people become disciples, but what we can do is provide the inspiration for people to take up the challenge. People will want to become disciples if they feel part of a community that will lead to an improved life for themselves or for their children.
Conclusion
So, in a Church which exists to form disciples, your parish, ministry or school should be an inspiring community where, partnering with the rest of the Church, disciples are formed.
by Martin Teulan