Missionary DiscipleshipSample

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He

said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at the table in his

house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. Matthew

9:9-10.

Jesus often called his disciples with the words, “Follow me.” To be a follower means to learn

the master’s teaching and to obey it. This is why Christians pay so much attention to the four

gospels, even giving special reverence to the reading of the gospel during worship.

To be a follower also means staying close to the teacher, so we can understand not only his

words, but his heart. So, it is not surprising that immediately after Matthew hears the call of

Jesus, he invites Jesus to have dinner in his home. Jesus wants to come into our house also, into

every room, and to teach us how to live in every area of our lives.

Matthew left many things to follow Jesus, but one thing he did not leave was his friends—he

invited them to dinner with Jesus. When we share Jesus with our friends—even those who are

still caught up in the sins we once shared with them—we give them a chance to become his

followers as well. Grapes grow in clusters; so do disciples.

As we accompany Jesus, he often gives us one or more mentors who can show us how to follow

him—who say to us, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Then, as we begin to grow in our

discipleship, we, in turn, become mentors to others. The apostle Paul wrote to one of those he

was mentoring, “And what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful

people who will have the ability to teach others as well.” (2 Timothy 2:2) Disciples help make

disciples.

“Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God

in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are “disciples” and “missionaries,” but rather that

we are always ‘Missionary Disciples.’” Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 120.