Discipleship requires discipline

In one of my finance classes my students are asked to memorize seventy three financial ratios. I can’t force my students to memorize the ratios; they have to choose to do it. But if you want to earn an A in that particular course, you will have to commit the ratios to memory.

One semester a student missed a letter grade by one point and begged me to please review their work and consider changing their grade. I agreed and went straight to the student’s final exam which included twenty ratio calculations. I informed the student that based on the fact that they missed seventeen out of the twenty ratios, I would not change their grade.

The student felt that this was not fair because their grade was ultimately determined by an exercise that was arguably no longer relevant in the business world. They claimed that in our new information age they have access to all of the ratios and calculations at the touch of a button and therefore they chose not to memorize the ratios. I told them that they were absolutely correct with regard to the availability of the information and that my decision had absolutely nothing to do with their knowledge of finance and everything to do with their obvious choice to not do something that they were completely capable of doing.

The readings for today are by no means my favorites. They speak about discipline. I hate discipline. Discipline is not easy. In fact, most of the time discipline is hard. Discipline is not fun and there is little if any joy in the process of disciplining ourselves.

Today’s readings are difficult because they remind us of how hard it is to be a true disciple of Christ and that there are consequences to our decisions. As Catholic Christians, we are called to walk in the footsteps of Christ; proclaiming the Good News to all the world, and to know, love, and serve God in this world, so that we may spend eternity with Him in the next. Through Baptism and Confirmation, we were given all of the grace and power needed to walk that walk. Through reconciliation we return to and are eagerly accepted back on the path of Christ. And through the extraordinary celebration of the Eucharist, Christ provides for us to be one, through Him, with Him and in Him.

If the crazy professor can ask us to discipline ourselves for something as trivial as a letter grade, how much more should we choose to discipline ourselves to walk in Christ’s footsteps so that we too may recline with Him at table in the kingdom of God?

Pax et bonum-
Frank DeGeorge

Question of the Week:
Today’s second reading describes our trials as discipline from God. Is it difficult to be a Christian today? What kind of hardships do you encounter because you follow Jesus?
We want your two cents!

Want more food for thought?
The Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1-7:28)
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu
www.bustedhalo.com

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