Clothe yourself with Love Col. 3:14

  We are all accustomed to inviting Jesus in our hearts. What if , Jesus is in fact, the one inviting you to join him in his sacred heart? It is a picture of ‘life in Jesus’ that is dynamic, it is a relationship going both ways. Jesus says: Abide in me as I abide in you (John 15). There is something very healing about us, joining the life of God, our weaknesses or imperfections get blown away, chipped off as we join/participate in the life of the divine. This is what happened to Andrew and his brother Simon Peter when they met Jesus for the first time. Andrew had been following John the Baptist and one day, Jesus happened to pass by and John pointed out to Jesus, saying: “ Here is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world !” This was a huge revelation since Jews knew that a lamb was used in sacrifice to get rid of sin, and this man Jesus is being called the lamb provided by God to get rid of the sin of the world. Andrew must have been completely impressed by Jesus...

I was fascinated by the prophet Hosea’s words that Matthew is bringing to us this morning. These words are: “ Out of Egypt, I have called my Son .” This was read by Israelites as God rescuing them from slavery in Egypt several centuries earlier. The same terminology that God used about Israel is being used about Jesus: “I called my son out of Egypt” My son! My first-born son. Such a great passion and zeal! Do you remember the tag war between God and Pharaoh? It didn’t end well. Pharaoh lost his first-born son and God took his first born (Israel) back through the red sea to the land of Israel. God is full of zeal and love for his Son. The Apostle Matthew is bringing back this F/S rescue picture in front of us, showing us that, again this is happening: “ God is calling his first-born son out Egypt ”. The same passion: My first-born son! Unfortunately, circumstances in life/ beyond our control do bring many of us into spiritual exile which “figuratively” we can call Egypt. Exile i...