This year, I have come to understand better what it means to be a “disciple”, to “deny” oneself, to “carry the cross.”
To be a “disciple” is so much more than regularly attending Mass, although this is an expectation. It is so much more than being the recipient of the gift of the Eucharist. Discipleship requires an openness to forgiving others, and a seeking of the forgiveness of others. It requires us to deny the security of our own families and open ourselves to the initial “insecurity” of a new family, the church. It requires us to “carry the cross” of possible rejection by family and friends, neighbors or co-workers as we face the challenges of preaching the kingdom of heaven through our behaviors and attitudes.
It requires, most importantly for me in striving to accomplish this discipleship, a meekness that knows only to trust unconditionally in the Lord. Impossible? Knowing Jesus as Emmanuel, “with us” as companion, is empowering, making “… all things… possible” (Matthew 19:26). Author Patti Cacciabaudo, Class of 2015, belongs to St. Mary Parish in Milford and studies in the Catholic Biblical School at Christ the Redeemer in Milford.
