WYD Solidarity Gathering Discipleship Session

Introduction
- Introduce yourself Christie, serving in parish for 5 years now in diff. ministries and in parish pastoral council anything youd like to bring to council, you can talk to me and other members. -Welcome and thank them for coming, -cant go to Brazil do it here! :D - Pope Benedicts message to WYD 2013, Let yourself be drawn to Christ attendance is sign to this, GOOD TO SEE - Wondering why we have discipleship in schedule connecting to the WYD theme, Go and make disciples of all nations (cf. Mt 28:19) we are called to do this as part of accepting and believing in Christ -Big part of our faith this session is a good way of refreshing our knowledge about our faith cause I believe you guys are familiar with the material in this session and might learn a thing or two, like I did So what is this??

Definition of Discipleship
DISCUSSION QUESTION: *When you hear the word discipleship, whats the first thing that comes into your mind?*

-Disciple and Ship humour - Disciple from CCC glossary - Those who accepted Christs message to follow Him. associated his disciples with: His own life, Revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them (i.e us) Gave them (i.e us) a share in His mission, joy and sufferings. - A person who is attentive to Gods word, acknowledges He is Teacher -Ship

- suffix; state of being - living our lives as disciples of Christ

How we became Disciples of Christ

-through Baptism Cradle Catholics born into the catholic faith, - Parents passed on to us the catholic faith, - our parents said yes to God on our behalf -we are links of this big chain of faith that has spanned centuries and generations -we are here thanks to the missionaries who risked their lives to bring the word of God to foreign countries and pagan lands -we are here thanks to our ancestors who listened to the word of God through the missionaries -we are here thanks to our ancestors children, our elders, our parents, who kept the faith alive and passed it on to us for centuries and generations -we are the torch-bearers of the faith; we continue on and build up what our elders have built and passed on -why have we been given this? - our parents love us that is why they have given us our faith, directing us to God who is true love - Our parents has given us one of the greatest gifts in life, salvation in Christ and with this comes true joy, peace, aid, comfort and protection in Christ - our familys hope is that with our faith we might find true joy and happiness that is in Jesus Christ and gain salvation

- RCIA - finding Jesus in the church, personal journey of faith to Christs church -responded to Gods call to His fold it is our great joy to have these brothers and sisters who will become new links to our great chain

-we are called to this mission by Christ -after baptism we become part of the church

-we are the church and therefore share in the mission to live as Christs disciples and be missionaries of love, missionaries of God. -it is not enough that we only go to church; Christ has to be part of our lives, in every aspect of it not just one hour of our Sundays or whenever we pray.

Why do this? Why respond to God?

-Sense of urgency to bring as many people to God and those who have fallen away back to Him -young people questioning the meaning and purpose of life is this all to life? -help people with their pursuit for love ultimate destination is God people not being able to fill the void -our salvation depends on our response to Gods message

-To respond to God is to respond to the call to love Him and to love everyone -Jesus summarised the Ten Commandments to two commandments: -The first is, Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. (Mark 12:28) - The second is, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other greater commandment than these. (Mark 12:31) -to love others is to share Christ with others

- to share Christ with others, I am the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6) - for all of us to find true life, *when we find true life in Christ, we find great joy and meaning in life. We find TRUE LOVE.* - I am the Vine, you are the branches (Jn 15:5) -we belong with God and thus like branches, cannot live if not connected to God who is the Vine - what I mean by living, is not breathing/existing per se but living without the emptiness in our hearts, living without true love -when you feel the emptiness in your life, thats a big indicator that you are looking for God, needing God to fill that void -we all have that need, esp. people who do not know God, God wants us to direct people to God. We are all looking for true love. God is love, true love.

-we are fortunate to have our faith because we can name this emptiness in our hearts but in us still remains the call to say YES to God. Due to free will and choice -for others to also to experience the joy and comfort in being with Jesus Christ -we are all looking for happiness and fulfilment in life -we do the things we love and pursue our dreams for our happiness and fulfilment -to fill the void that only true love, only God can completely fill and what other things can partially fill -for other young people to find meaning in life Christ -we find the real reason to living, -we start truly living life when we are with Christ - In God we find our direction in life, if faith is shared, others wont be lost too -Salvation for ourselves and others -so we all can share in the eternal happiness that Christ wants to give us -God wants us all to be saved and no one lost in His call of love (being loved and to love) - Heaven, life everlasting with God, who is Love and Mercy itself.

-Betterment of society social justice -because God is the way, the truth and the life, if God is in our lives, we can build a harmonious and sustainable society. God through the Holy Spirit will guide us to live the best life for ourselves and for others. -God teaches us to reach out to others who need help hence charities present in societies e.g. saint Vincent the Paul society and etc. -God teaches us how to love truly, helping us to build and sustain meaningful relationships (marriage, family ties and friendships) -Gods spirit, the Holy Spirit, if allowed into our lives and decisions, will guide us in making and productive and just laws and policies (for politicians and policy makers) -If we respond to Gods call to love (including those of us who are company CEOs and business giants), economies can be more sustainable and less cruel to ordinary people, less manipulation of the economic system

-essence of discipleship is to share love, our mission is to share true love with others, direct people to true love who is God, enabling people to gain true and lasting happiness. Giving all these things is sign of our love for others

How do we live out our discipleship?

-encounter with Christ -it all starts with meeting God and finding true love in God, it starts between you and God -we can encounter God through the world and others but He is most visible -nurturing your faith -know God, know love, give love -evangelisation

Conclusion

EXTRAS/ SCRATCH

-believing in Christ - living Christs message to love in our lives - not just what you say but what you do as well - not just saying you believe in Christ or you believe in God -faith in God entails the living out the teachings of Jesus not just professing He is Lord and God