Being A Christian: A Challenge

Fr. Jose Kakkallil
Good Shepherd Minor Seminary
Karoor P.O., Pala

Christians are those who are called to introduce and to present the very life of Christ in the world. They are called to proclaim the Good News or to say ‘Here is Christ’. In other terms, Christians are those who are called to the sacrament of God and of God’s coming community. One becomes a Christian by his response with the assistance of the Spirit in the depths to the universal call of the Father. This makes the person one with Christ and incorporates him in his body.
Christian living is communicated by the credibility and example of life. This credibility and example of life we follow are modelled on the very life and person of Jesus. He is the master whom we, as disciples of Jesus, follow. So our understanding of Christian life is essentially related to the question of discipleship. This is what it has been from the beginning and what it remains. In this understanding a personal commitment to and relationship with Jesus constitute the essential elements of following him unwaveringly and unconditionally.
Centered on the Person of Christ
The centrality and fullness of discipleship are found in the very life of the historical Jesus. The underlying content of Jesus’ life as the unique disciple of the Father is to make the Father and His Reign known. In other words, ‘Abba’ was the life project of Jesus and in His name he offers hope to the hopeless and future to the futureless.
From the Gospel narratives it is clear that Jesus had a group of disciples around him. They went after him as their teacher and served him and lived in communion with him. The New Testament discipleship is unique. This uniqueness lies in the fact that it is centered on the person of Jesus, his mission and his preaching of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ aim was to proclaim the nearness of God in word and deed, to call to repentance, and to proclaim the will of God. Similarly, ‘following after’ him and ‘discipleship’ were oriented to this one great aim. Jesus calls his followers to be with him and to do his mission (Mk 3:14). Following Jesus thus means to be attached to him and his values and at the same time taking up the task of proclaiming the Kingdom (Mt 28:18-20) and bearing witness to him (Lk 24:46-69). The person who responds to Jesus’ call is to leave everything and attach himself to the person of Jesus (Mt. 10:37). Thus to be a disciple means to be bound to Jesus and to do the will of the Father. This complete concentration on the person of Jesus and his mission makes Christian discipleship distinctive. In short, Jesus’ disciples were not only dependent on His message and activity, but even more specifically and fundamentally on His person. Indeed, His teaching and cause were inextricably bound up with his person. Jesus’ words and deeds cannot be separated from His person.
The Call of the Church to Holiness
Sanctification is the process by which a person becomes holy and pleasing to God. In order to identify oneself with Jesus, one has to accept his teaching and to imitate his life itself. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). The dynamics of such an intimate relationship could be explicated by conversion and commitment. Conversion is the personal response to God. It involves the acknowledgment and confession of his sinfulness and dependence as well as acceptance of the call to holiness. In other words, it is the life of holiness. By the life of conversion, a true disciple is growing in greater and greater conformity with Christ from moment to moment. The life of personal relation with Christ leads one to commit himself and surrender completely to Jesus and all his values. This commitment to Jesus is expressed in terms of carrying one’s own cross. To bear crosses is not a tragedy. For the disciple it is not an accident, but a necessary part of his life. Cross means sharing the suffering of Christ to the last and to the fullest.
Although Christian discipleship is enmeshed in suffering and cross, it makes life joyful since it involves the life fulfilment. The guarantee which strengthens the followers of Jesus in the face of cross and suffering, is his divine presence. Hence faith in the presence of Jesus and hope in the eternal life remain the source of joy and the life of self emptying and self giving as the ways to happiness and fullness of life. It is not a cheap joy, easy joy but a paschal joy. Paschal joy is true, real and lasting. Thus the followers of Christ making communion with God and leading a life in friendship with Jesus live at the threshold of great joy so that they can rejoice at all times.
Prior to Vatican Council II, the average Catholic did not realize that God seriously called him or her to holiness, to be a saint. Vatican Council wanted to change this minimalist thinking. “All in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are cared for by it, are called to holiness, according to the Apostles’ saying ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification’ (The Church-39). And again lest the message be missed, “It is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of love, and by this holiness a more human manner of life is fostered also in earthly society” (The Church-40).
The Council spelled out clearly what this holiness involves. It is imitation of Christ, doing God’s will, seeking God’s glory and caring for others. Holiness involves the daily effort to advance along the way of a living faith. The council obviously believes that this high vocation is within the reach of all Christians with the indispensable help of the Holy Spirit. This means to live the Christian life fully, which ultimately is a life of love: love of God and of our fellow men. Thus Council Fathers teach us: “In this way they can follow in His foot steps and mould themselves in all their being to glory of God and the service of their neighbour” (The Church-40).
Means and Examples of Holiness
The Church offers powerful means and examples to holiness. Here we come upon an embarrassment of riches that the Church has developed over almost 2000 years. They constitute an extra-ordinary array of helps to live the Christian life more fully and to love God and neighbour more generously.
The best means to holiness is prayer life. The Church offers countless opportunities for prayer. In fact a major effort of the Church is to teach and encourage us to pray. In prayer we turn to God and become aware of God’s presence. We speak to God and listen while God speaks to us. Prayer is thus a two-way loving conversation between friends, one of whom is intensely interested in us. As weak, limited creatures we need God’s help, as sinners we need to express our sorrow, as recipients of God’s goodness and his many gifts to us personally we should praise and thank God.
Another important powerful means to holiness is liturgical year. In the liturgical year the great events in the life of Christ are celebrated throughout the course of a year. By living again these Christian mysteries, the Christian deepens his faith and hope and love thus growing in personal friendship with the risen Christ and in gratitude to God.
The most simple means to holiness are the seven sacraments. The Vatican Council II states: “The purpose of sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the body of Christ, and to give worship to God” (Sacred Liturgy-59). The seven sacraments of the Church carry a Christian throughout life, especially at peak moments. They are real life celebrations. They revive our faith, restore our hope, inspire us to love God and men, give a foretaste of what God’s kingdom on earth is meant to be and what it will be in heaven. Sacraments bring to heightened awareness through sacred rituals what God is constantly doing in our daily ‘secular’ lives and in our own experiences and actions. Every sacrament, especially Eucharist, celebrates the great unfailing love of Jesus for us here and now. In a word, the centre of every sacramental celebration is Jesus Christ. By sacraments we celebrate God’s plan and the mystery of salvation in Christ Jesus.
Also an equally important powerful means to holiness is the Word of God. We think of the power and the beauty of the World of God. Vatican Council II clearly teaches that “in the sacred books the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them. And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life” (Divine Revelation-21).
The saints are the powerful examples of Holiness in the Church. The saints renew the Church in every age by raising up men and women outstanding in holiness, to be living witnesses of her unchanging love. They inspire us by their heroic lives, and help us by their constant prayers to be the living sign of your saving power. The Church offers its canonized saints as heroic examples of how to live Christianity fully and love passionately. They have shown Christians down through the centuries how to imitate and follow Christ.
Being a Christian: A Challenge
The universal invitation to be a disciple of Jesus is always a task and a challenge. It demands a continuous response from the person concerned. It is not a convenience or honorific title. It is not a half time programme, but a life long one. It is not a ‘free ride’ along a straight path.
Saints are an inspiration and a challenge to us all to walk their way. The secret of Blessed Alphonsa’s holiness was her deep personal union with Christ and his paschal mystery. Her relationship and commitment to Jesus have grown and accomplished through faith, hope and love. By the life of conversion and commitment, she was growing in greater and greater conformity with Christ from moment to moment throughout her religious life. Hers was the spirituality of the folly of the cross and suffering and experiencing in sharing the paschal joy of Jesus. She reached the highest possible realm of holiness by accepting and following the means of holiness of what the Church had offered to her in life. She proclaimed in her life the Good News: ‘Here is Christ’. Her life is both an inspiration and challenge to her countrymen in general and Christians in particular.