Excerpts from DIVINE PERSONALITY OF JESUS Mother M. Angelica Each one of us sees Jesus in a different way. To some He was Prophet, for they needed to know the Kingdom was at hand. But most of all He was the Son of God and He came to experience the consequences of the curse the Father had put upon mankind when Adam and Eve disobeyed. He came to redeem them from that curse, and in so doing, became all things to all men. He became a Man of Sorrows acquainted with weakness, but never succumbing to it. He wanted to tell us that He knew what it meant to suffer, bleed, be rejected, misunderstood and hated. He wanted to do all the things He commanded us to do so we would find it easier to forgive, overcome, obey and be humble. Because He was God and experienced what it means to be human, He merited for us the grace to possess the Divine. Through Grace, bestowed upon us by the Power of His Spirit, we are sons of God and heirs to the Kingdom. He redeemed us with the Father, showed us how to act like children of God during our earthly pilgrimage, opened the gates of Heaven and sent His Spirit to abide with us as Guide and Teacher. H is Life had many qualities and virtues for us to imitate. He did not come in an arrogant way to show us up as failures. He came as a humble and obedient servant to show us how to live. He told us to follow in His footsteps with courage from His Spirit and promised us that some day we would share in His Glory as we shared in His Cross We must look at the personality of Jesus and see Him under various circumstances— circumstances not unlike our own—and then praise Him by imitating Him to the best of our ability. His Charism The ability to attract people is referred to as a Charism. Whenever Jesus appeared in public, He stood out in the crowd. It was something the average person could not explain—they only knew this Man was different. So different was He that He seemed to divide a crowd into two distinct factions—those for and those against. No-one ever met Jesus and went away unaffected. Few realized that before them stood God-made-Man. This divine quality set Him apart and at the same time made Him approachable and understanding. As Christians we often excuse ourselves and decry our lack of Charism in regard to people and the world. We seem to forget that Jesus merited for us this Charism—the Charism of Divine Love shining through a human nature. He has given His Holy Spirit to each of us that we might become by Grace what He is by Nature—a son of God—Divine light shining through a human soul, Divine love radiating through a fragile vessel and giving light to all. As He stood before fishermen, casting their nets, and said, Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men, the sound of His Voice and the look in His Eye made them drop their nets and follow Him. (Mark 1:17) These men were fascinated by the loving authority of a Master who asked and did not command, who loved first and waited for a return of love. This Man was a Master worth following, an unusual Man who called and chose and yet left them free to respond. The ability to ask and wait was a very winsome quality in Jesus. These men knew they could say No, but His strong and loving request made them follow. They had to know more about One who could command in such a humble way. In their hearts they knew the choice they would make would be final and from that moment on their lives would be different for having followed. He never promised them greatness. He merely said they would do great things. Somehow there was a difference and they knew it. Their greatness would come from following Him and they were content. His Charism was enhanced by Truth for what He said came from the Father and there was never any speculation in His words. He never left anyone wondering about the meaning of His Words, even though the things He said were often mysterious and difficult to accept. His humble authority was like a magnet that drew the poor and repulsed the proud. The people of the streets could sit for hours as He taught them in terms they could understand. This, too, was something rare. He brought mysterious truths down to their level without the least sign of condescension. They felt one with Him. Even though He was above them, His humble dignity brought them up from the mud of depravity and permitted them to look at Him, not as an equal, but as a Friend. He never lost His dignity, but He never made others feel less for it. Every gesture gave them hope and told them of His love and concern. He stood as a man among men. His Dignity gave Him power to attract the multitudes, because He came to serve and inspired others to serve as well. As He went from place to place, throngs of people of every class ran to hear Him. He never lost sight of His Mission, though many hailed Him as a Prophet. He was Son, not Prophet, and His Charism shone forth with brilliance as He told believer and unbeliever alike that He was sent by the Father.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 16:44:59 +0000
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