My Articulate Heart

Mary became the Mother of Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, not by her own power or initiative, but through the work of God. Yet the work of God alone did not make her the Mother of Jesus without her free cooperation. Her motherhood is a beautiful harmony of divine grace and human cooperation. Mary’s “Let it be done to me according to your word” opened her heart completely to God’s will. Her lowliness, faith, and obedience made her a willing participant in the mystery God was accomplishing through her. At several significant moments, Jesus addresses Mary as “Woman.” We can easily misunderstand this as diminishing her importance. But the opposite is true. These are precisely moments when Scripture reveals her unique role in salvation history. At Cana, when Jesus performs His first sign, He says to Mary, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4) The reference to His “hour” points forward to His Passion and glorification. Later, Jesus declares...

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 progress...

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 ...