Discipleship in Mark
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Date
1996-02-21
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
I go to attend Mass on Saturday evening to fulfil my Sunday obligation, so that I can
be free on Sunday.... The reason I attend mass on Saturday, is that Mass is short, the homily
is short, there is no prolonged singing, no big crowd, and also there is always plenty of room
to park my car". This was expressed to me in a conversation by a lady during my Saturday
apostolate.
Many people think, like this lady, that to be a Christian means to become vaguely
religious. We start to go to church and do "religious" things like praying the rosary, reading
the Bible and doing novenas. Although Christians do all these things, they know that being
a disciple goes far beyond that. To be a follower of Jesus does not mean hiding inside the
church away from the difficulties of life. Quite the opposite. Being a disciple means following
Jesus in the way we live the whole of our lives.
The following of Jesus is called THE WAY OF DISCIPLESHIP. And
"DISCIPLESHIP" is one of the important themes in the gospel of Mark, through which
Mark gives a beautiful and challenging understanding of the way of discipleship. In these
pages, there are five conferences grouped under a title - "DISCIPLESHIP IN MARK". Now
this title suggests that in all the five conferences I use the gospel of Mark. This is of course
correct. However, since these talks are aimed at pastoral situations, I have illustrated the
conferences from other sources.
Finally, I am sure and convinced that through the gospel of Mark one can come to a
very good understanding of what it means to be a disciple and to be a committed follower
of Jesus. And these five conferences are geared to this goal.