A Cycle of A Disciple

A Cycle of A Disciple

On this great feast of Pentecost, I would like to take a renewed look at the disciples' response to their call to evangelize and propose this as a model for responding to the ways God calls us to serve and love in our daily life.

After the resurrection, before Jesus ascended into Heaven, Jesus called His disciples to evangelize, referred to as the Great Commission. Jesus does not commission the disciples to share the Good News with only one person or a few. He commissions them to share the Gospel with the ‘whole creation.’ Then, He names signs that may accompany His disciples such as casting out demons and healing the sick (Mark 16:15-18). The calling of Christ here is not something they can do by their own might; He is inviting them to something beyond their strength.

The ways Christ calls us to serve and love those in our life today still can be overwhelming. While God does not invite us to make up missions for ourselves that come from a desire to prove oneself, to please others or to try to earn love, God still may invite us to missions that are beyond our might presented in the daily duties and responsibilities of each person's vocation.

Yet, with this Great Commission given to the Disciples, comes the promise of power: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus is not expecting the disciples to fulfill His will for their life by relying on themselves. He knows they need the Holy Spirit to do what He is inviting them to. Maybe to not have everything figured out but to be keenly aware of a need of God’s power in the details of daily life, is just where God wants us to be and how He wants to meet us. Maybe an invitation to something beyond us is just what God knows we need to keep us humble and always reliant upon Him to be our strength.
 

Following this Great Commission, the disciples do not immediately begin executing their mission from God. Rather, the disciples huddle with Mary in the upper room for 9 days. Mary, who is the spouse of the Holy Spirit, intercedes for the disciples to be strengthened. To be daunted by an invitation from God is not a call to despair but a call to rely even more on the intercession of Mary and await the refreshment of the Holy Spirit. Practically, a way to respond to feeling overwhelmed throughout one's life can be to pray Hail Mary’s in the silence of one's heart.
 

Once again, God demonstrates His faithfulness; the Holy Spirit comes in power at the occasion of Pentecost. Now, receiving the strength from the Holy Spirit, the disciples begin to fulfill their call. In response to Peter’s preaching, “Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). The disciples' efforts are bearing supernatural fruit; they are fulfilling their mission from God.

God does not invite us to be His workhorse; He invites us to be His child. His promise is that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:29). May an honest attempt to follow God and fulfill the daily duties and responsibilities of one's vocation begin by recognizing our inability, remembering our need for His power, relying on the intercession of Mary and seeking to let ourselves be refreshed by the Holy Spirit in imitation of the disciples.