 Hi, I'm Dr. Edward Sri and I'm an alum from Francis University's Masters in Theology program and I currently serve as Professor of Theology and Vice President of Mission at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado. And as we're looking at the theme of discipleship, I like to think about how there are many people who initially will answer the call of Christ and they start growing in their faith. They get excited. They read a book or they hear a talk. They go to a conference or a retreat and their faith is rekindled. And then they start growing a little bit in prayer. They want to read more. They want to study more and they want to be in good fellowship. And that's all good. But the question is, will they go to the next steps of discipleship? The steps in which it gets a little harder, where we're following Christ not for the great fellowship we may have with other believers. We're following Jesus not just for what we get out of it. We get a better life. We get new insights on life. I can live marriage and family better if I follow the gospel. And those are all wonderful benefits that come in following Jesus. But the real question is, will we follow Jesus all the way to the cross? Because Jesus said, to be a disciple, you have to take up the cross and follow me. And so what is the cross, the cost of discipleship? This could be, are we going to be committed to prayer really? Not just praying when we want to or when it feels good or when we think like we get a lot of good insights from it. Are we really going to take time for prayer consistently, 15, 20, 30 minutes every day, even if we feel like we're not getting any feedback? Because loyalty in prayer, faithfulness to Jesus in prayer is more important than just our perceived feelings or a sense of quality of our prayer life. So will we be committed to prayer? Will we be committed to living the moral life? Not just following the moral law, avoiding breaking the commandments, but will we really pursue virtue growing in Christian charity? Because many of the great saints have told us that one of the great hallmarks of sanctity, of growth in holiness, growth in discipleship, isn't just how many books we read, it isn't just how many rosaries we pray, but it really is growing in charity and love of neighbor. Will I grow in patience and generosity? Care for the people closest to me. Will I live more for others and less for myself? That's going to be a great hallmark of a disciple that's truly growing in discipleship and not stagnating at those initial stages.