The Happy Priest Challenges Us to Ask: Who is Jesus to Me?

9/16/2012

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presence. He cannot enter locked doors and windows that he cannot open. God respects our freedom. Only the open can believe and see.

Knowledge automatically brings us to love. We only love that which we know. Our love for the Lord must be authentic and real. Hypocrisy repulsed the Lord. "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?" (James 2: 14).

Love brings about transformation. The goal of discipleship is to die to self so that the Lord may live within us. "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8: 34).

The narrow road of the Gospel is difficult to live. Nevertheless, it is the only road that leads to eternal life in heaven.

In this Sunday's gospel narrative we discover the drastic invitation of Jesus. "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8: 34).   The cross, our personal cross or crosses which cannot be transferred to anyone else is an essential aspect to our walk with the Lord Jesus.

Jesus and the two thieves were not the only people ever crucified by the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was the form of capital punishment used for those people living under Roman jurisdiction who were not actually Roman citizens. Beheading was the punishment for Roman citizens, crucifixion for non-Roman citizens.

Just think how horrible crucifixion must have been if the Romans spared their own citizens such a terrible death. So painful was death by crucifixion that the Romans eventually did away with it as a form of capital punishment.

Too many of our contemporaries seek an easy life without suffering, without sacrifice, without renunciation, without mortification. Many people would like to stand under the cross of Jesus and cry out as did the jeering crowd on the first Good Friday, "Come down from the cross."

However, there is only one Jesus, and he is the crucified Jesus who rose from the dead. Christianity without the cross is not Christianity; only through the cross of Jesus have we gained salvation.

So, when we suffer, we should not consider our suffering a burden; rather we must look upon the cross we bear as an immense gift from God.

Mother Theresa once said: "Suffering is a sign that we have come so close to Jesus on the cross that he can kiss us and that he can show that he is in love with us by giving us an opportunity to share in his passion".

Undoubtedly there are many forms of suffering that are quite mysterious. Moreover, the need to carry our cross as an essential dimension of Christianity does not take away the need and the duty to seek cures for illnesses and to make this life a better life for everyone. Although human progress continues to make this earth a better place for everyone, suffering, in one form or another, will always be a part of our existence.   The meaning of suffering does make sense when we contemplate Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead.

When we ask the question why, we need to look upon the crucifix. It is only there that we will find the meaning of suffering and the exact reason why we must carry our own cross.

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it" (Mark 8: 34-35).

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Father James Farfaglia, is a contributing writer for Catholic Online and author of Get Serious! - A Survival Guide for Serious Catholics. You can visit him on the web at www.fatherjames.org.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Sunday homily, homilies, catholic spirituality, Jesus, gosples, discipleship, Fr James Farfaglia

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

Maddie
6 months ago
To me, Jesus is someone I can turn to when I don't know who else to talk to, or don't want to talk to anybody else. He is human, too: not just divine. He is someone who truly understands all the angst and suffering I go through in my life (especially now, in my teenage years...) because he suffered the most horrible experience ever: the slow, agonizing death that only criminals ever suffered through. There is no pain too great for him to understand. Heck, he even had a moment of hesitation early in his miracle-working days: the Wedding at Cana. His mother, Mary, was the one to urge him into performing his first miracle. He probably thought he wasn't ready yet (didn't he say something like, "My hour has not yet come,"?), and yet, his mother ignored this and told the servants, "Do as he says." Thus, she was shoving Jesus out of the bird's nest so he could learn how to fly. I feel like my own parents put too much responsibilities on my shoulders, but I also know that I'll have to step up and bear the load, and that Jesus will be there to help me carry it if I'm struggling.

To me, Jesus is like a brother I can turn to when I feel lost, and this is especially important to me in my current stage of life, now that it seems that nobody but God can understand me.
DLL
7 months ago
God is and is alive thoughout time and for eternity for each and every generation. He has made Himself most alive through His only begotten Son,Jesus Christ. In Christ we can see the face of God. I will live and die in a given amount of time that I will call my lifetime,then I will be quickly forgotten forever. My ultimate finding in my short period of time for a lifetime experience,is to be a witness to the miracle that is the relationship that exists Father,Son and Holy Spirit,that is affectionately referred to as The Most Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity unites the past,present and future and all time fades out for every life,so that infinity,eternity,becomes the only true reality. God is Love,Love never dies. Love is eternal. Love is the essence for the existence of life itself. Christ is the perfect example of a pure and Holy Love,lived out in a life as a single human person. In Christ we know that it is love that legitimizes each and every form of a human sense for existence. God is the source for our personal sense of being. God has created the human being with a capability for understanding this fact of life as the very reason for our being alive. To be truly alive is to love.
Catherine Anne Hayes Ulasinski
7 months ago

Who is Jesus to me? He is my way, my truth, my light within. I can not live...I can not go on if I do not have His LOVE...His PRESENCE with me always. I do not have to always be consciously aware of Him to know He is with me. I just feel Him. I can not explain it. I just have FAITH that He is and I also have the LOVE and PRESENCE of our Blessed Mother Our Lady.

I am am not a perfect woman...far from it. I am not a "holy roller' as the saying goes. Some may even say I may even be a be a bit of a radical in my Catholic faith but my faith is STRONG!!! My faith is COMPLETE. NOTHING can shake it!!

I wrote that poem last February "My Constant Love" that you so honored me by choosing it as the best poem in the Valentine's Poetry Challnege. It expresses well how I truly feel..

Here it is again..My Constant Love
By Catherine Anne Hayes

You my constant love
who never abandons me
I love You
I feel You
in the warmth
of the sun
as it touches my face
I feel You
in the softness
of the wind
I hear Your voice
in the music
of birds singing
and
children laughing
and
the sounds of life
beautiful life
around me
You are always
with me
My constant love
My Lord
My Life
My God

Here is another one that expresses how I feel...

I Spend Time With You

I am not my whole self unless
I spend time with You
Life's purpose is empty
the calm of my soul
does not exist

I need my time with You
Life is complicated
a challenge
full of tests of patience

But when I spend time
with You
my soul becomes calm
my mind ceases to be troubled
I know I am loved

The best part of my week
is my hour with You my Lord
I feel complete
I bask in Your Love
I know what it is to be truly cherished

You my Lord I most adore
My Savior
My One
My All
Because of You
I can meet life's adversities
I become strong
I am renewed
All because I spend time with You

copyright 10 july 2012 catherine anne hayes
abey
8 months ago
Who is Jesus to me ? " He who is the express image of The Father & on whose image am I created" to become as He is.
Kasoy
8 months ago
One excellent discussion on suffering is the encyclical by Pope JP II: Salvifici Doloris. Describes the reasons for suffering: to correct an erring child (Prodigal Son), to draw out love towards ones neighbor (Good Samaritan), further purify a just man (Story of Job), and to share in Jesus' redemptive work (Passion of Christ) for the salvation of souls, conversion of sinners, and forgiveness of sins - redemptive suffering or salvific suffering (salvifici doloris).
DLL
8 months ago
Jesus is the only child of a virginbirth. The Father of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. Mary Is Imaculately conceived to be"The Mother of God",pure and without sin. Mary is still a virgin even after the birth of Jesus. Jesus is body,blood soul and Divinity. Jesus is unique. No man is Divine,only Jesus. A consecrated Host during Holy Mass becomes Christ ministering to all the Faithful,as a living Host during Communion,body blood soul and Divinity. This Christ is Mystical and chooses to act through Holy Orders. The (Holy Ordered Priest),acts in the Persona of Christ at Holy Mass and during the Sacrement of Reconciliation. Christ dies on a Cross to save all from sin. Christ is risen from the dead and reveals the truth of the Scriptures to his Apostles for 50 days,before ascending into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father,God. Jesus is the self proclaimed way,truth and the life,the only way to the Father,God. God is Love,the creator of all Life. Christ is the only true Divine,Priest,teacher,who can reveal what God is like. The Holy Spirit is Paraclete,acting on all during each and every Holy Mass,so all can know God and His only begotten Son,Jesus Christ. All Christian faith is ordered to the teachings of Christ through Holy Orders,the Priest is the Instrument of Christ specifically,as He is ordained to teach and to conform to the teachings of Christ in thought ,work and deeds. The Faithful(Laity) are ordered to be perfect as the Father in Heaven is Perfect. Faith must truly be a vocation for every believer in Christ. Obedience to God is key for the Christian. Christ must be the most controversial figure of all time? You bet He is,believe it or not! I Believe! No Man could dream all this up. They are simply too corrupt. This is the greatest revelation of all Human History. It is simply too good not to believe it. The Human Imagination cannot begin to conceive the mind of God,His thoughts are simply greater than any of our thoughts.

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