A Committed Disciple

A king was diagnosed to have a heart ailment and was advised to undergo a heart transplant. However, he needed a donor. The king said, there was no problem since the people loved me and I am sure that they would volunteer to give their hearts to me. When he returned, he summoned the people to assemble in his palace. He asked them, Do you love your king? and the people replied on the top of their voice, Yes, we love our king! Then, he told them his
predicament. Thinking that everybody would be willing to volunteer and it would be odd just to choose anybody, he proposed to throw a feather and to whom it falls, will be the donor. Five minutes have passed since he threw the feather but to his surprise it hadn't fell yet to anyone. When he gazed on the people, everybody was looking up and blowing the feather away.

Jesus was instructing His twelve disciples about the cost required for being His committed followers. First, a disciple must be driven by the love he bears for Christ. Love for Christ is the foundation of this commitment otherwise a disciple would be like one of the people in our anecdote who blew the feather away. A true follower of Christ must be someone who is in love with Him in such a way that love of parents and children, or love of spouse, assumes
secondary importance. A family is a beautiful institution. The love for the family is important, in fact one of the 10 commandments says, Honor thy father and mother. There are times, however, when love for the family can be distorted and ugly. For example, a father gets involved in graft just to provide an affluent living for his family.

Decisions to follow the Lord could create conflict among family members. St. Francis lived a life of leisure and riches. As his conversion began, he spent more time in prayer and wept for his sins. One day while riding through the countryside, Francis, the man who loved beauty, who was so picky about food, who hated deformity, came face to face with a leper. Repelled by the
appearance and the smell of the leper, Francis nevertheless jumped down from his horse and kissed the hand of the leper. When the leper returned his kiss of peace, Francis was filled with joy. As he rode off, he turned around for a last wave, and saw that the leper had disappeared. He always looked upon the leper's passing as a test from God. Acting again in his impetuous way, he took fabric from his father's shop and sold it to get money to repair the church of San Damiano. What Francis did made him seem like a madman to his father. Hence, his father dragged him before the bishop and in front of the whole town demanded that he returned the money and renounced all rights as his heir. Francis was disowned by his father for loving Jesus in the poor.

Secondly, a disciple must be sustained by the love he receives from the community. Christ's disciple does not only dispense love, but also receives the love and hospitality of the people he serves. Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. A minister needs support and love from the people. He is not the only one who inspires them, they also inspire him. He is not the only one who teaches them, they also teach
him. The Christian community must support the priests and show their love for them. They must be a source of inspiration and strength for one another. A committed disciple is not a disciple on his own. His commitment is motivated by the love for Christ and his commitment is sustained by the love he receives from the community of faith.