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 too. In John 12:23: Jesus says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Jesus calls his mother "woman" knowing fully well the mission and role they both ought play in order to accomplish the salvation plan. John the evangelist wants us to understand Mary as the one who is referred to as "woman" in Genesis [2:23], Gospels [John 2.4 and 19:26] and in Revelations [12:1].

At the foot of the cross Jesus offers Mary, who now represents the church- his eternal bride to John the beloved disciple, the representative of the first son of the church as the "mother". The very mother who supported Jesus in his mission "in every way" is now our mother too, to support in our mission as a child of God to bring to effect the salvation God intends for all humanity and to obtain eternal union with Him. We see Mary preparing her children [the disciples] in the upper room before the descent of the Holy spirit on the day of pentacost, the most significant event of the church.

The same Jesus who raised us up as children of God despite our weaknesses, has raised Mary, who is characterized by a life perfectly obedient to the will and word of God, to be His Mother and our Mother. 

An honest and unbiased plunge into the scriptures reveals the truth. But a study undertaken with pre-conceived ideas that are contrary to the truth will lead us astray from the whole truth. There is no salvation independent of Mary. Whether we acknowledge her role or not, the effect she through her life obtained for us continues to be available to all as a free gift.

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