We Have a Divine Brother (part 3 of 5)

WE HAVE A DIVINE BROTHER
frequent heart to heart talk with Jesus

On Christmas Day we will again celebrate the Wondrous Mystery of the Incarnation —The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity assuming for Himself a complete human nature, body and soul, while remaining God. “The Church thus confesses that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our BROTHER” (CCC # 469).

Little do we reflect on this sublime Mystery of the union of two infinitely different natures (divine and human) in the one Person of Jesus, the Son of God, and therefore little appreciate its implications. As God Jesus has infinite knowledge and a will possessing the perfection of God Himself. As man he has infused knowledge, knowing everything a creature can know, and a will totally conformed to God's will. “As God He loved us with an infinite and divine love; as man, His heart possessed the purest, most tender, most comprehensive, and most generous love that can be conceived in a creature.” (from CREDO, by Bp Schneider) In fact, “we cannot comprehend the depth of divine love that led our Lord to offer Himself as a victim in atonement for our sins”. (CREDO). There is nothing that Jesus will not do for us (now) and for our salvation.

This means that we can relate to him not just man to man, but man to Man-God. He understands every little affliction we have, because he suffered more than any of us. St.Thomas Aquinas says that Jesus endured every kind of suffering. Moreover, “ it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help” (Heb 4: 14-16).

Yet even as we relate to Jesus in his humanity we also encounter our Lord and Savior, a GOD of infinite love and power to assist us in every need and trial, able to offer us perfect counsel in all our predicaments, though it be through ‘spiritual discernment’, aided by His word. During his public ministry Jesus already answered prayers with mighty miracles of healing, casting out demons and raising the dead to life. Even now he still can and does answer prayers of faith, if it be for our good, in the wise designs of God.

We therefore have every reason to run to our Divine Brother for any and every need, but also to be in constant communion with Him. We can do so always, daily– even unceasingly. For as He promised, He will be with us until the end of time (cf Mt 28:20); so that after His Ascension, He is at the same time in Heaven and (here with us) on earth in different modes, having fixed his presence here through the Eucharist, the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, (where Jesus is really and substantially present, body, blood, soul, and divinity). And so we can approach Him anytime, anywhere, all the time; we can visualize him in his human form, addressing him with short ejaculatory prayers: “Jesus, I love you; Jesus, Son of God made man, have mercy on me, a poor sinner”, and many others, talking to Him familiarly, as to a dear friend and brother. We can actually hug or embrace Him as during the few minutes after Holy Communion when He is in us bodily. We can also lay our head in the bosom (chest) of our Lord (so to speak) as did St. John the Beloved (cf. Jn 13: 23ff). For we are in Jesus’ spiritual embrace when in the state of grace, as then we are united to Him through His Holy Spirit in us. How is it then that we will not converse with Him, (in all our miseries and joys), Who we know is present and loves us so dearly?

Now as we walk with Jesus through the ups and downs of our life we realize that our divine brother is also our model. A powerful preacher once said: “Jesus is the answer”. But what is the question? Or how so? The question/s is: everything we need, in all our afflictions, trials, and miseries, decisions to make, minor or major. All these, collectively amount to ‘THE QUESTION’. The very PERSON of JESUS is THE ANSWER: his example sheds light to our everyday life's ‘questions’. Hence the popular phrases: 'WWJD', 'What would Jesus do', or 'HWJR', 'how will Jesus react' in such and such a situation, and so on; we can coin as many phrases, all amounting to Jesus, the God-Man, being our model of holiness–THE ANSWER to all our questions. And so we look to Him and pattern our life to his. For “in all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is the PERFECT MAN who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself he has given us an example to imitate, through his prayer he draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privations and persecutions that may come our way” (CCC 520). "His teachings, summed up in the Beatitudes depict his very countenance and portray his charity. They shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life” (cf CCC 1717). Above all, Jesus is our model of obedience to the Father's will--even unto death (cf. Jn 4:34).

Let us therefore Rejoice, for we have a DIVINE BROTHER Who is our model. And let our motto be: LIKE BROTHER, LIKE SIBLING!!! (god-men/women IN the God-Man, Jesus, through grace).