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Showing posts from July, 2012

Yoked to Jesus

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“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” †  Mathew 11: 28-30  What is the labour and burden that Jesus is asking me to deal with? Perhaps I have to let go of the compulsive burden (or is it a sort of entitlement?) that my spouse and children should choose a spiritual path that I know to be right. Jesus accompanied Judas Iscariot to the very end but never deprived him of his freedom to choose his own destiny. Jesus on the other hand, uninterrupted by Judas's choice to reject him, continues to accomplish his mission. He does become a victim of Judas's betrayal but he seldom takes on the victim's identity. In divine wisdom, Jesus chooses to die in our place (and that of Judas) in a redeeming act of love. Rather than being compelled to fix those whom God has entrusted to my headship by m

Mary, the mother of God

Mary became the mother of Jesus the incarnate son of God, not on her own accord but because of the work of God. But the work of God alone would not have made her the Mother of Jesus, expect for her own personal excellence in being lowly and totally obedient to the will of God. The motherhood of Mary is a harmonious blend of Gods work and Mans co-operation. Jesus, at few specific occasions calls Mary "Woman" and we tend to wrongly understand it as being suggestive of her irrelevance in the salvific mission of Jesus. On the contrary those are the high-points where the second Adam and the second Eve reverse the ill brought into humanity by the disobedience of the first parents by their perfect obedience. Old testament promises and prophesies dutifully come to be fulfilled at these moments. The wedding of Cana, where Jesus performs his first sign is a pre-cursor to the work he will accomplish on the cross. He refers to the "hour" as he does in few other occasions t

Jesus!

Jesus is the expression of God the father. He is also the thought and word of the Father. When the Father wishes, son is at his disposal saying here I’m.  John, in the first paragraph of his gospel describes Jesus as Word, God, Creator, Light and Life. Also as the one who comes to restore our lost identity being the children of God. He emphasizes Jesus being the one who restores life. The word being spirit takes on flesh, a mortal body -in order to live as man ought to live and becomes a the sacrificial lamb of God in order for all human beings to walk the path He walked. In the book of revelations Johns sees Him being the lamb that is standing even after it is slaughtered.  St.Paul says offer yourselves as the living sacrifice holy and acceptable before God. We receive life by offering our mortal bodies with its carnal nature to God the father through Jesus on a daily basis. As St. Paul says we take on the nature of Jesus little by little through this constant and progressive submi

Obedience to the Truth

Replying to the Pharisees who asked his disciples: why is your master eating and drinking with the sinners and tax collectors, Jesus said: " Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice .' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners " [Mathew 9:13] paraphrasing the text from prophet Hosea " For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings " [6:6] Mathew was a literate, dutiful employee of Herod Antipas who collected tax from the Jews on behalf of the Romans. Jews considered such men an outcast because they extorted their own people. Jesus invites him to be his disciple and he obeys. This obedience involves a great sacrifice especially considering the riches and the lucrative profession Mathew is leaving behind to follow the son of man who has no place to lay his head. Jesus in saying that he has come seeking not the righteous, but sinners reiterates that he searches out for hearts that