Bishop Michael W. Warfel
Victor was a parishioner years ago when I was a parish priest. I remember him well because of his story. He and his wife were active in the diocese though, at least for Victor, this had not always been the case. Having dinner with them one evening, Victor shared his faith journey with me. He had grown up in Peru and had attended Catholic schools in his early years. His family had immigrated to the U.S. and had all become citizens. Now older, he was educated and had become a successful electrical engineer.
Following the meal, he shared how his experience of the Catholic Church during his growing up years in Peru. It was much different than what he experienced in the U.S. In Peru, faith was often more of a cultural phenomenon since the majority of people were baptized as Catholics. Being Catholic for many did not require much of a religious response. It was more to provide a structure for society.
A co-worker at the firm where he worked as an electrical engineer belonged to a large independent Baptist church. His co-worker would regularly invite people at the firm to attend Sunday services at his Baptist church. Victor said that the man was always polite and actually stood out among his co-workers as a man of good morals. He was well liked and was never aggressive as he invited others to attend his church. After one such invitation, Victor agreed to go.
Victor arrived at the Baptist church where he received a warm welcome and was ushered to a seat. During the service, he noted to himself how the music and singing touched his heart. The preaching, though longer than he was accustomed, both challenged and inspired him to make a stronger commitment in the way he lived his faith. After the service, he was urged to return.
Later that evening, Victor reflected on his experience. Up to this point in his life, his manner of being Catholic was quite casual. In comparison to his co-worker, who was known to be a committed Baptist, Victor realized that no one knew he was a Catholic. In fact, for all anyone knew, he could have been a Hindu or an agnostic. Victor also reflected on what he experienced in his parish at those occasions when he went to Mass. It wasn’t always so inspirational or challenging. He decided he needed to make a deeper commitment to his Catholic faith. Being a casual Catholic simply was no longer good enough.
Victor’s story is not unique. There are a good many Catholics who self-identify as Catholic though their baptism does not have much of an impact in their lifestyles. Easter issues a clarion call to all Catholics to embrace life in Christ in a deeper way. The call is to live intentionally as a disciple of the risen Lord and to open our lives to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. A disciple, rather than merely being a member of the Church, intentionally patterns his or her life on that of the Lord.
This has significant implications for lifestyles. It is vital that we appreciate, in our heart of hearts, what Christ did for us through his passion and death and his rising from death. By his cross, he overcame sin and death. By his resurrection he paved the way to heaven. What Christ did is pointless, if it doesn’t have a solid impact in our lives. It is imperative to believe in the paschal mystery as more than a fact of history. Christ has to influence our lives. Belief in him has to mean more than mere acceptance of an historical truth. It involves more than “talking the talk.” It requires “walking the walk.”
What Christian faith asserts and requires is a deep commitment. Either we believe deeply enough in his risen life so that it makes a difference in our lifestyles or we are more likely to be Catholics who just profess we believe with little in our lives to demonstrate it. Living as a casual Catholic can provide a nice religious structure to life as well as some wholesome values, but it can also lead us to thinking we have something that we do not have, i.e., a life in Christ. The conclusion to the season of Lent and transition into the season of Easter invites us all to consider our response to faith. Being Catholic demands becoming an intentional disciple.
An individual who has invested much time and energy on discipleship in recent years is Sherry Weddell. In one of her books, she describes five stages of spiritual growth. Becoming an intentional disciple involves more than waking up one day to discovering that we are a disciple. It is process of formation and growth that requires time and commitment. Like the twelve earliest followers of Jesus, who spent three years with Jesus, it usually requires years of opening ourselves up to grace. Doing so ultimately will lead to a deep commitment of faith. I draw heavily from her book.
The first stage is an initial trust in the message of Jesus. What we hear and experience from the Gospel is received in trust and viewed as a valuable path to follow. For example, the parables of mercy convey to us a God who wants what is best for us. The example of Jesus’ ministry demonstrates how he was indiscriminate in his willingness to associate with anybody for their salvation — friend, foe, rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, man, woman, young, old. It is essential for us to appreciate this and trust that this is an accurate portrayal of God.
The second stage is spiritual curiosity. Just as Victor was inspired by his encounter with his Baptist co-worker and his experience in that church, such encounters with Christians, who model lives that are outwardly faith-filled and generously authentic, lead to spiritual curiosity. It is attractive. They demonstrate that life would not make sense if God did not exist or if Christ had not died and risen from the dead to redeem us.
The third stage is spiritual openness to the radicalness of the Gospel. The invitation to follow Jesus is literally open to anybody, but Jesus never hides the fact that the Gospel makes profound demands upon anyone who would follow him. A casual approach was never entertained by Jesus. Jesus consistently affirms the cost of discipleship. He said that if anyone would be his disciple, it only can happen if they are willing to pick up the cross of fidelity and follow him. There is no other way.
The fourth stage is spiritual seeking. This is when an individual has learned to embrace Christ’s great instruction, “Seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you” (Mt 6:33). With all the competing voices that come to us, it is vital to listen to the voice of Jesus above all others. The seeker strives to turn away from modern day idols that have taken the place of God and understands that what this world can provide, though often good, is never an end in itself. The only true end is God.
This last stage is that of an intentional discipleship. This is what Christian initiation demands of us. An intentional disciple has made a searching and deliberate act of the will to follow Jesus consistently in life. Our response must go well beyond casual Catholicism that Victor once lived. Like the disciples on the Emmaus road, the intentional disciple’s heart burns within him or her (cf. Lk 24:32). Like Paul, the intentional disciple cries, “For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5:14-15).
It is my hope that all of us will ponder the call to discipleship during this Eastertide.
Please help us continue
