The Good Disciple and me

The Good Disciple wants to understand the practice of discipleship in the modern world.

With Sacred Scripture in hand, The Good Disciple treks through the Liturgical seasons contemplating present-day applications of Jesus’ teachings, life and ministry: the story of God’s radical love and trustworthiness.

The Good Disciple

• seeks those instances when the gospels are actualized, when Jesus’ teachings on love, salvation, and the Kingdom of God deepen and inspirit ordinary human interaction (and finds them all the live-long day, really),
• dives into the timeless depths of the Paschal mystery (and dwells on the unanswered question of suffering),
• ponders Trinitarian life (as a model for authentic relationships, perhaps),
• and discovers  meaningful openings for prayerful, restorative spiritual practices, and dialogue with God through the natural world (with infinite examples beckoning right outside our windows).

In addition to Sacred Scripture, The Good Disciple honors and includes the wisdom of ancient and contemporary spiritual writers from various faith traditions, theologians, poets, and artists. Having said that, The Good Disciple is also not shy about expressing feelings of sorrow, frustration, indignation and despair over a culture that reviles the poor and glorifies the rich, spins definitions of what is Good into various isms and manipulates Christian teachings for power and personal gain.

Underlying and acting as a backdrop to every word published on The Good Disciple is the knowledge that God’s radical love for humans and all of God’s creation is intended to be mirrored by us, who were created in God’s image.

Reflections on The Good Disciple follow the Common Lectionary and are intended to help readers ask better questions of the texts, provide insight into the seasons and strengthen the resolve to practice good discipleship at all times. They may be most meaningful when read prior to attending the Liturgy. Why not carve out some sacred time each week with The Good Disciple.

Looking for something in particular? How the Blog is organized.

The Good Disciple blog is organized by page, date, and theme so you don’t need to spend a lot of time searching (although this blog is a lovely place to linger, if you are inclined).

The most current post always sits at the top of the home, or landing page. From here, readers can scroll through every post ever published on The Good Disciple back to June, 2014. To return to the top of the landing page, just click the words The Good Disciple on the banner.

The main menu lists the five primary pages (in addition to the one you are currently reading).

Primary pages include sub-pages. For example, anything related to Luke’s gospel is contained in a sub-page under the menu heading Scripture. Likewise, reflections having to do with prayer are located under Prayer & Spirituality. Regardless of the page, posts are always organized by date, from the most recent to the oldest.

Scripture includes sub-menus for each of the four gospels.

NOTE: I have chosen to include only the four gospels in this drop-down menu. This is to avoid having to cross reference the entire canon of scripture. Readers can use the search engine “Help me find…” on the right side of the page to locate other books of Bible not included here.

Liturgical Year includes sub-menus for each of the three liturgical years (A, B, C) and seasons (Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter).

NOTE: Use the drop-down sidebar menu “Themes” located on the right-hand side of the page to find posts related to other Solemnities and Feast days.

Discipleship includes six sub-menus related to the primary characteristics of discipleship: Discernment, Gratitude, Social Justice, Service, Stewardship, and Evangelization. As you might expect, everything post on The Good Disciple includes at least one of these characteristics.

Prayer & Spirituality includes three sub-menus, Prayer, Spirituality, and Poetry.

Guest Posts includes reflections written by, you guessed it, people other than me.

Readers can also search by date using the “Published Dates” calendar or the Select Month drop-down sidebar menu.

Finally, the drop-down sidebar menu Themes lists some of the most relevant topics covered by this blog.

About me, your fellow sojourner

I wasn’t always a Theology nerd. In fact, all I ever wanted to be was an artist, but about 15 years ago I developed a longing to enter the true “Creator’s” field. I responded to this longing by committing to a spiritual practice, finding a spiritual director, ministering in my home parish, enrolling in an ecclesial ministry formation program offered through my diocese, and after that, earning a Masters in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

I don’t claim to be The Good Disciple, or even a good one for that matter. But I try. Reading scripture and contemplating its applications for contemporary life and its many challenges helps. Writing helps too. My decision to be a life-long student of The Word is a challenging, creative, and worthy undertaking.

Read, comment, and share the blog with your friends. Follow me by email, or through your WordPress account. I hope you will join me so we can learn together.

—Susan Francesconi, LEM, M.A.PS