janjotting about God

Jesus was born in Palestine at the time when the country was a part of the Roman Empire and Augustus Caesar was the Emperor. His mother was a young unknown Jewish girl named Mary. She was pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph who was a carpenter.

Mary was found to be expecting a child before they were married. Joseph was told by an angel in a dream that the baby was God’s child and advised to choose to marry Mary and raise Jesus as his own son.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a town in Galilee in the northern part of the country. He became a carpenter, following in the footsteps of Joseph. He was known as Jesus, son of Joseph. At the age of thirty, he became an itinerant preacher and became known then as Jesus of Nazareth.

He travelled throughout the country, teaching people to turn away from all that was wrong in their lives, to return to the ways of God as taught to them by Abraham, the father of their faith, and by Moses and all the great leaders and prophets of their religion.

He also healed people and performed many miracles. He was not afraid to criticise the leaders of the Jewish faith when they were in the wrong. They became jealous of his popularity with the people and angry because he exposed their hypocrisy. After three years, he was arrested and put to death by the Romans at the instigation of the leaders.

He had acquired many followers and appeared to them three days later, alive and well but still with the scars of his death. He remained with them for forty days before returning to heaven. Ten days later, his followers were filled with his Spirit and from then on, continued to spread his message.

Over the following years, he came to be known as Jesus Christ. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah and Jesus is believed to be the promised Messiah of the Jewish Scriptures who has come to set all people free. His followers are known as Christians and their religion, Christianity, and has spread throughout the world.

Telling the Beads Bead 20 Crowned with Love

Bead Twenty Crowned with Love

It is easy to imagine the joy with which Mary would have been welcomed into heaven, Jesus and Joseph with their arms outstretched to hold her, united in happiness, her life’s work on earth over. Her loved ones, her nephew, John, and all the friends and neighbours she had known, everyone who had gone before her, welcomed her and thanked God for the gift of her life and love.

The image of Mary’s entrance into heaven was celebrated as people envisioned her being welcomed and crowned as Queen of Heaven by the angels and loved by all those holy and redeemed people who had already found their eternal home with God.

She was seen, not as an earthly queen, dressed in costly robes and adorned with jewels, but as the Queen of Love, adorned only by the beauty of her holiness, her humility, and the love she bore for God, for her son, Jesus, for Joseph and for all God’s people, now and forever, her children.

Telling the Beads Bead 19 Falling Asleep and Awaking in Heaven

Bead Nineteen Falling Asleep and Awaking in Heaven

Peter and John had also worked together very fruitfully over the years and wherever John went, Mary went with him, as he constantly cared for and watched over her. She was able to sustain the followers of her son with her love and devotion. Her calm and deeply spiritual presence was their greatest consolation and brought comfort and strength to them all.

As she approached her seventieth year, more and more persecution made it necessary for them to escape from Palestine. She and John travelled by sea to Turkey to join the Christian community at Ephesus. After a long and difficult journey, John searched around for a quiet and secure place to set up a home for them both where Mary would be safe and comfortable.

It was here that he began to record his countless memories and reflections on the life he and all the companions of Jesus had shared with their beloved leader and the experiences they had had since those early days of their meeting by the river Jordan. He found a beautiful spot a few miles away from the city, secluded and peaceful, and there, they shared a contented life.

One evening, having wished John goodnight, Mary went to her room for the night but, on the following morning, there was no sign of her anywhere. John instinctively knew that God had taken her, body and soul, to be in heaven with her beloved son, with Joseph and her parents, Anne and Joachim, with Elizabeth and Zechariah and with everyone she had ever known and loved.

John went into the town to share the news with the community. Despite their own sense of loss, everyone was overjoyed to know that Mary had been rewarded and blessed by God for every sorrow she had ever experienced.