Have you accepted Jesus as a father?
January 5, 2021
St. John Neumann
Dear Family of Mary!
Here is the December 25, 2020 message given through Jakov. He has his yearly apparition on Christmas Day and receives a message. And this year the message is exceptionally detailed and powerful. Let’s review it again:
”Dear children! Also today Jesus is here beside you, even when you think that you are alone, and that light does not exist in your life. He is here and has never left you or distanced Himself from you. The light of His birth illuminates this world and your life. His Heart is always open towards you, to receive your every pain, every trial, fear and need. His arms are extended towards you, that as a father, He may embrace you and tell you how important you are for Him, how much He loves you and cares for His children.
Children, is your heart open towards Jesus? Have you completely surrendered your life into His hands? Have you accepted Jesus as your father, to whom you can always turn and in Him find consolation and everything you need to live true faith?
That is why, my children, surrender your hearts to Jesus and permit Him to begin to rule your lives, because only in this way, will you accept the present and be able to face the world in which you live today. With Jesus, every fear, suffering, and pain disappear, because your heart accepts His will and everything that comes into your life. Jesus will give you the faith to accept everything and nothing will distance you from Him — because He firmly holds you by the hand and does not permit for you to distance and lose yourselves in difficult moments — because He has become the Lord of your life.
I bless you with my motherly blessing.”
Our Lady is giving us a real encouragement in this message. She sees how very difficult our lives have become, due to the crisis in the world. And she is directing our eyes towards the only source of hope and light for us, to the Lord Jesus!
I want to address one particular section of the message today, since many people have asked about it. It is this section:
His arms are extended towards you, that as a father, He may embrace you and tell you how important you are for Him, how much He loves you and cares for His children. Children, is your heart open towards Jesus? Have you completely surrendered your life into His hands? Have you accepted Jesus as your father, to whom you can always turn and in Him find consolation and everything you need to live true faith?
Of course it sounds odd to call Jesus our father. Isn’t He the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of the Father? How can we call Him Father when we have a Father in Heaven. Isn’t Jesus our brother?
As I prayed about this section, I became convinced that Jesus can indeed be experienced as a Father for each of us. Look at the words Our Lady used in the message:
His arms are extended towards you, that as a father, He may embrace you…
Isn’t this the classic gesture of fatherly love, that the father extends his hands towards the child and draws him close to him, embracing him?
And tell you how important you are for Him, how much He loves you and cares for His children…
Doesn’t a father give his children confidence by expressing his deep love for the child, making sure the child knows that he is of great value to the father and that he is cared for? This is fatherly love!
I believe that Jesus does all of these things for us each day, as we pray to Him. He loves us with Fatherly love. Why? Because He and the Father are one. Jesus loves like the Father loves. Jesus has the same heart as the Father. Jesus can love us as a father because He has the Father’s heart.
As I was transcribing Fr. Robert Rieger’s homily for yesterday’s reflection, I noticed that Fr. Robert also talked about Jesus’ fatherly qualities. Here is what Fr. Robert said:
“But you know, getting to know Jesus and loving Jesus and talking to Jesus and understanding Jesus, we first need to understand that everything that I read and love and adore and admire in Him, is probably what speaks to me the most and is probably what is calling me to be Him. So if I admire His paternal strength and His way of blessing people so that the best of them comes out, and that means the elderly and babies, sinner and prostitutes, and fishermen…it doesn’t matter who it is…Jesus is a powerful father figure!”
Yes! Jesus is a powerful father figure! He loves us like a father, wanting the best for us, calling out the best in us, giving us confidence and courage, showing us that we have value in His eyes, nurturing us as we grow in the Spirit. Jesus is good a fathering!
This doesn’t take away from the Heavenly Father, as father. Jesus and the Father are one! Jesus does what the Father is doing. The Father is fathering all of us! And Jesus is fathering us with Him. The Son of God is a very good father!!
Let’s take time in silence to let this fatherly love that Jesus has for us to penetrate our souls and our hearts. Jesus loves us with a father’s heart. He wants the best for us. He wants us to grow in holiness and righteousness, in joy and hope! Jesus wants us to flourish. He has a father’s wisdom, and He spent His entire public ministry trying to communicate that wisdom to us, so we could become strong and wise children. Let’s give Jesus permission to love us with his fatherly love! “But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” (Lk 18:16)
In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020
