Word of the Week

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Disciple: Discipulus (L.): meaning "pupil,” or “one who is learned.” It can also mean, "to grasp intellectually, and analyze thoroughly.”

Jesus’ disciples are those who hear the call to repent and be baptized with the seal of the Trinitarian life. The missionary work of the Holy Spirit lives in the Church and her disciples bear witness to the life of Christ living in the Church (CCC 767). In the Church’s humble beginnings, Jesus called unto himself 12 men to participate in his redemptive work here on earth. These original 12 shared in the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven. They shared in his paschal mission, his joy, and his sufferings (CCC 787).

Disciple is found 269 times in Sacred Scripture, almost exclusively in the New Testament. The only Old Testament passage belongs to the major prophet Isaiah: “Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples” (Is.8:16). This prophecy of the OT accounts for the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the New Israel’s twelve in the early Christian Church. We have in this passage a taste of how God uses the OT to prepare for the coming of Christ. In the NT, the overarching theme is that of Christ’s twelve immediate followers. The twelve apostles were initially called disciples, ‘pupils who were in the process of learning’ (the Greek translation for apostle is to send). Applying the call of discipleship universally, we become disciples of Christ’s vineyard only as much as our method of teaching reflects his own in both word and deed (Lk.6:40). Christ’s disciples are those who hear his voice by familiarity and follow him wherever he goes (Jn.10:3).

Disciples are followers of Christ. A Christian disciple is therefore defined by their ability to manifest both a disciplined attitude in their Christian behavior as well as sound discernment in their decision making. There is a deeper meaning to what it takes to become a disciple when you uncover the etymology of the word disciple. You discover that discernment, discipline and disciple all have at its root, the meaning, “to understand and distinguish clear instruction for growth.” During this Easter season, we ought to discern the meaning of life that God gives us in the Spirit so that we might share it abundantly (Jn.10:10).

“The cost of discipleship is to be a suffering servant for Christ.”

-Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
•  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.

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