1. Chapter 9: Friends and Disciples of Jesus

2. Prayer: I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord; I will come to you again, and your heart will rejoice. John 14 Lord, help me not to leave our children orphans by working long hours, watching too much television, spending too much time on social media. Instead help our family to rejoice with you our Father in prayer. Amen

3. Journal: Read Acts 6:8-8:3 What is the Kerygma presented in this text?

4. Committed Disciples Help to Spread the Gospel In the first steps toward discipleship, we give our minds and hearts to Jesus. Later, we must put our faith into action.

5. It is not enough for man simply to recover right ideas about God, or to obey his will in the isolated actions of his life. No, man must be refashioned as a living whole in the image of God. His whole form, body, soul, and spirit, must once more bear that image on earth. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

6. In Jesus’ Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, he told the Apostles, “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you.”

7. The Apostles took Jesus’ commission to them very seriously. They began to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the world. They focused on the basic teachings Jesus had handed on to them; and urged others to: ► repent of their sins, ► believe in Jesus Christ, ► forgive others, ► love God and others, ► serve other people, and ► proclaim the Good News.

8. “Love God above all things, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” To help us practice the selfless love for our neighbor that Jesus demands, the Church offers us the works of mercy. The Spiritual Works of Mercy Admonish the sinner. Instruct the ignorant. Counsel the doubtful. Comfort the sorrowful. Bears wrongs patiently. Forgive all injuries. Pray for the living and the dead. The Corporal Works of Mercy Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Clothe the naked. Shelter the homeless. Visit the sick. Visit the imprisoned. Bury the dead. These are charitable acts that remind us how to come to the spiritual and material aid of our neighbors in need.

9. In his parable of the goats and sheep, Jesus reminds us that we will be judged based on our response to his command to love our neighbor. What we did (or did not do), especially for our “least brothers and sisters” will be the basis for whether we will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

10. Jesus cautioned his disciples to understand that following him will be no easy matter. It takes discipline and courage. When Jesus told them to “enter through the narrow gate,” he was talking about how doing what is easy has little benefit, but meeting the challenges that come before one of his disciples will lead to eternal life.

11. St. Paul: Apostle and Dedicated Disciple St. Paul is one of the greatest teachers and missionaries of the Christian faith. He is also a worthy model of Christian discipleship for us to emulate.

12. St. Paul’s original name was Saul. He was a zealous Jew from Tarsus, and earned his living as a tent maker. Before his conversion to Christianity, Saul joined in the persecution against early Christians. He participated in the stoning of the first martyr, St. Stephen; and took a commission from the Sanhedrin to arrest Christians and bring them to Jerusalem for trial.

13. Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute and arrest Christians when Christ appeared to him in a blinding vision. In the vision, Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” By his persecution of Christ’s body, the Church, Saul was persecuting Christ himself.

14. Immediately after this life changing experience, Saul became a disciple of Jesus, and prepared to spread the Gospel. Saul was baptized by Ananias, and resolved to embark on missionary journeys in the Roman Empire to take the message of Christ to the Gentiles. He chose to go by the Latin form of his name: Paul.

15. As a Roman citizen, Paul could travel throughout the empire. He wrote letters, or epistles to communicate with the people to whom he had brought the Good News. Many of the letters in the New Testament were written or influenced by St. Paul. St. Paul’s letters address problems that the various congregations were having, including theological questions about Jesus and how to deal with heresies. St. Paul also shared advice about how to be a good disciple of the Lord.

16. St. Paul was one of the greatest thinkers and theologians in Christian history. Because he was so instrumental in spreading the faith to the Roman world, he is called the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” After a courageous career of traveling throughout the Roman Empire and standing as a champion of the Gospel, St. Paul was finally martyred by beheading in Rome during one of Nero’s persecutions in AD 64 or 67.