WHO IS JESUS? JESUS IS MY EVERYTHING

Mother Theresa's spiritual director,
Jesuit Father Celeste Van Esem, said of her,
"The meaning of her whole life was a person: Jesus."

Indeed for Mother Theresa, Jesus was everything.
When asked by a reporter,
"Mother what place do you give Jesus in your life?";
She immediately replied, "I give Him all the place."

This total belonging to Jesus is evident
in the following meditation Mother Theresa composed
while hospitalized in Rome in 1983.

"Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15)

You are God.
You are God from God.
You are Begotten, not made.
You are One in Substance with the Father.
You are the Son of the Living God.
You are the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Your are One with the Father.
You are in the Father from the beginning.
All things were made by You and the Father.
You are the Blessed Son in Whom
the Father is well pleased.
You are the Son of Mary,
conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary.

You were born in Bethlehem.
You were wrapped in swaddling clothes by Mary
and put in the manger full of straw.
You were kept warm by the breath of the donkey
that carried Your Mother with You in Her Womb.

You are the Son of Joseph,
the Carpenter, as known by the people of Nazareth.
You are an ordinary man without much learning,
as judged by the learned people of Israel.

Who is Jesus to me?

Jesus is the Word made Flesh.
Jesus is the Bread of life.
Jesus is the Victim offered for our sins on the Cross.
Jesus is the Sacrifice offered at the Holy Mass
for the sins of the world and mine.
Jesus is the Word - to be spoken.
Jesus is the Truth - to be told.
Jesus is the Way - to be walked.
Jesus is the Light - to be lit.
Jesus is the Life - to be lived.
Jesus is the Love - to be loved.
Jesus is the Joy - to be shared.
Jesus is the Sacrifice - to be offered.
Jesus is the Blessed Sacrament - to be adored.
Jesus is the Sacred Heart - to be trusted.
Jesus is the Peace - to be given.
Jesus is the Bread of Life - to be eaten.
Jesus is the Hungry - to be fed.
Jesus is the Thirsty - to be satiated.
Jesus is the Naked - to be clothed.
Jesus is the Homeless - to be taken in.
Jesus is the Sick - to be healed.
Jesus is the Lonely - to be loved.
Jesus is the Unwanted - to be wanted.
Jesus is the Leper - to wash his wounds.
Jesus is the Beggar - to give him a smile.
Jesus is the Drunkard - to listen to him.
Jesus is the Retarded - to protect him.
Jesus is the Little One - to embrace him.
Jesus is the Blind - to lead him.
Jesus is the Dumb - to speak for him.
Jesus is the Crippled - to walk with him.
Jesus is the Drug Addict - to befriend him.
Jesus is the Prostitute - to remove from danger and befriend.
Jesus is the Prisoner - to be visited.
Jesus is the Old - to be served.

To me,
Jesus is my God.
Jesus is my Spouse.
Jesus is my Life.
Jesus is my only Love.
Jesus is my All in All.
Jesus is my Everything.

Jesus, I love with my whole heart, with my whole being.
I have given Him all, even my sins, and He has espoused me
to Himself in tenderness and love.
Now and for life, I am the spouse of my Crucified Spouse. Amen.