Relationship

Catholicism, all of Christianity for that matter, is about a relationship with a person, The Person- Christ. This truth is something that I've noticed has been missed in many people's experience in the Church. So I'd like to share a little bit about what my relationship with Jesus is and what it has meant to me.

There's a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. For example, I can read biographies on George Washington and know a great deal about him, but because he lived hundreds of years ago, I can never know him. I can't have a conversation with him, know what is happening in his heart, know what's on his mind. In the same way, there's a difference between knowing about God and knowing God.The difference between the two situations is that even though Jesus lived thousands of years ago, we can still know Him. I can read the Catechism of the Church, the Bible, and any number of books filled with information about God, His laws, His teachings. But if I never let it into my heart; if I never actually approach Him as a person, then I will only ever know about Him.

One of the things Jesus has been telling me lately in prayer is that I am Beloved, that I am loved intimately and personally by Him, in a way that no one else is, not loved more or less, just in a unique way because I am unique. He's been saying this to me through the Scripture that I've been reading (when you read a passage in the Bible that speaks to your heart, remember that its Him speaking to you, not just to the collective people of the Church), through the prayers of others, through the sunsets and nice days. He shows me He loves me in so many little ways, and it blows my mind to see how many times He says "I love you" when I'm open to hearing it.

The reason that I go to mass each week, the reason why I go to adoration and prayer groups, is to spend time with someone I love- God. You can't have a relationship with someone you never see, never talk to, right? Its the same with Jesus. It may seem weird, but He's just as present in the Tabernacle of the Church as the person sitting next to you in the pew. And He's going to respond when you talk to Him just like they would if you said hello. He wants to know about your life; He wants to be a part of it. So tell Him, talk to Him about your day, what went well and what didn't, what friend upset you, what family matters are troubling you. And then listen. Because He will answer, maybe not in the way you expect, but He will answer.

Knowing that I've got the One who loves me more than anyone with me throughout the day means the world to me. And having a relationship with Him has changed me. When I think about the mercy that He has shown me, the fact that I shouldn't be loved as much as I am, I realize that in turn I need to show mercy to others. The understanding He shows me when I make a bad decision or act in a way that is not positive, makes me realize that I need to show that to others. Its just like the Our Father says: "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." What a tricky clause that is- we're actually asking God to forgive us using the same measure that we use to forgive others, to give us the mercy we give others. And forgiveness doesn't mean accepting the sin, it means accepting the person.

So yea, I think that this is going to be a Lent of living into my identy as Beloved. I'm really looking forward to getting to spend more and more time with the Savior I love and getting to know Him better.