discipleship

¹⁸And Jesus, drawing near, spoke to them, saying: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Therefore, go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have ever commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age.”

²⁷And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me, is not able to be my disciple.

²³Then he said to everyone: “If anyone is willing to come after me: let him deny himself, and take up his cross every day, and follow me.

²and by the things which you have heard from me through many witnesses. These things encourage faithful men, who shall then be suitable to teach others also.

³¹Therefore, Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him: “If you will abide in my word, you will truly be my disciples. ³²And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

³³Therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all that he possesses is not able to be my disciple.

⁴⁰The disciple is not above his teacher. But each one will be perfected, if he is like his teacher.

³⁴I give you a new commandment: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also must you love one another. ³⁵By this, all shall recognize that you are my disciples: if you will have love for one another.”

¹⁴You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. ¹⁵And they do not light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that it may shine to all who are in the house. ¹⁶So then, let your light shine in the sight of men, so that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father, who is in heaven.

²⁶“If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and yes, even his own life, he is not able to be my disciple.

¹¹And the same one granted that some would be Apostles, and some Prophets, yet truly others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers, ¹²for the sake of the perfection of the saints, by the work of the ministry, in the edification of the body of Christ, ¹³until we all meet in the unity of faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as a perfect man, in the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴So may we then no longer be little children, disturbed and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, and by the craftiness which deceives unto error. ¹⁵Instead, acting according to truth in charity, we should increase in everything, in him who is the head, Christ himself. ¹⁶For in him, the whole body is joined closely together, by every underlying joint, through the function allotted to each part, bringing improvement to the body, toward its edification in charity.

⁴²Now they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communion of the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.

¹Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ.

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples: “If anyone is willing to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁵For whoever would save his life, will lose it. But whoever will have lost his life for my sake, shall find it.