Our souls are his

Each of us has an image of Jesus. Perhaps you see a bearded man with long brown hair, kind eyes and a gentle smile, wearing a white robe and brown sandals; perhaps of a crucified man, with only a loin cloth, tormented and tortured, wounded by the nails and spear. Some may see him as tall or short, dark- or light- skinned, heavy or thin. And each image would be correct, for like each of us, Jesus, while fully divine, was a human being created in the image and likeness of God. He shared fully in our humanity; human birth, life, and death.

Jesus, Lamb of God

Jesus, Lamb of God

Reflecting on the human Jesus, we can quickly envision the physical Jesus, but we seldom stop to consider many of his other qualities and attributes. And yet, as you read the gospels and hear his words, you eventually come to realize that he had to have been extremely intelligent, very imaginative, and a quick wit.

We have no direct knowledge of any formal education, yet he obviously could read well given the many instances where he was asked to read and interpret Scripture. He was often addressed as teacher or rabbi. He could create a parable or a story to explain a difficult question to others and he did so without hesitation. And he understood and saw through hypocrisy and hidden agendas with amazing ease.

We are all familiar with his response to those who asked him if it was lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar “…repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” [Mt 22:21]. What a response! Currency in the ancient world represented political power. Coins were stamped with the image of the ruler and were considered the ruler’s personal property. Thus what belonged to Caesar had to be returned to Caesar. It was his property.

However, we don’t owe our souls to Caesar. We are created in God’s image which means that we belong to Him and must return that which belongs to Him. How and in what state we do so is the question. We were created out of love, spotless and pure. So it is our responsibility to return ourselves to God in good condition, like new. Are you prepared to offer yourself to God?

About the author: Deacon Chuck

Deacon Chuck was ordained into the permanent diaconate on September 17, 2011, in the ministry of service to the Diocese of Reno and assigned to St. Albert the Great Catholic Community. He currently serves as the parish bulletin editor and website administrator. Deacon Chuck continues to serve the parish of Saint Albert the Great Catholic Community of the Diocese of Reno, Nevada. He is the Director of Adult Faith Formation and Homebound Ministries for the parish, conducts frequent adult faith formation workshops, and is a regular homilist. He currently serves as the bulletin editor for the parish bulletin. He writes a weekly column intended to encompass a broad landscape of thoughts and ideas on matters of theology, faith, morals, teachings of the magisterium and the Catholic Church; they are meant to illuminate, illustrate, and catechize the readers and now number more than 230 articles. His latest endeavor is "Colloqui: A journal for restless minds", a weekly journal of about 8 pages similar in content to bulletin reflections. All his reflections, homilies, commentaries, and Colloqui are posted and can be found on his website: http://deaconscorner.org. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. He is the author of two books: "The Voices of God: hearing God in the silence" which offers the reader insights into how to hear God’s voice through all of the noise that surrounds us; and "Echoes of Love: Effervescent Memories" which through a combination of prose and verse provides the reader with a wonderful journey on the way to discovering forever love. He regularly speaks to groups of all ages and size and would welcome the opportunity to speak to your group.

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