Being a disciple today

John had been thrown into prison by Herod, Galilee's ruler, whom he had denounced because of his adulterous union. We know from John's account of last Sunday that Peter, Andrew and John were already following Christ. Here, however, along with other disciples, they receive a special call, an official confirmation so to speak, to become his disciples in a fuller sense of the word.

The redeeming mission of Christ was not to end with his own death and his departure from this earth. Hence Jesus has selected, as intimate companions and witnesses of his life and teachings, a number of disciples who, after his departure, would be the properly accredited teachers of the Gospel, bringing the 'Good News' of salvation to all men and women.

Indeed, God at times seems to select the most unlikely people for the proclamation of the good news: simple fishermen who knew a lot about fishing, but next to nothing about preaching; and later a tent-maker called Saul who became a disciple when the power of God knocked him down. And even today, after all, we see history repeating itself in everyday life: perhaps he makes use of an elementary school teacher, an ordinary clerk, or even a doctor, and, why not, an unobtrusive housewife in some remote little village.

God speaks through anyone of such disciples, sometimes without their being aware of the message they may be delivering by their unobtrusive witness; open your hearts to God, stop taking advantage of the weak and ignorant, forgive those who have offended you, share some of what you have with those less fortunate. In short, believe in the Gospel and practise it.

In today's Gospel we have the gist, the quintessence so to speak, of Our Lord's preaching: "The kingdom of God is at hand!" The New Age has started. Not indeed the 'New Age' we have been lately hearing and reading about, sometimes even from persons who should know better, a doctrine which has hardly anything in common with Christian religion, consisting mainly of a strange mixture of psychology, cosmology and astronomy, with the hidden danger of ending up, as has sometimes happened, with more confusion in people's minds and even loss of faith. 'Scientology' is often the new name assigned to this new approach to religion and reality in general. It is, in fact, far from being a science and much less a religion.

As followers of Christ, each one of us, whether male or female, teacher or learner, young or old, is called by the Lord to accept his invitation to discipleship. To be a follower of Christ means to be committed to a life that can witness to Christ and all he stands for. God's call to salvation coming to us through Jesus Christ and his Church needs to be passed on by us to others. It is like competing in a 'relay race', with the difference that, after passing the baton to another runner, we are still urged to continue the race and run even faster.

"The kingdom of God is at hand," we read in the first part of today's Gospel. We are not to look for it elsewhere or in the future. It is with us here and now. All we need to do is just look around us a little bit. We will still find it in the little word of encouragement we may give to a friend, or in the pat on the back we may give to a fellow worker who may be passing through one difficult moment to another. Let us just keep our eyes open and our hearts attuned to the listening of God's call and moment of grace.