It is perhaps my single greatest disappointment, in my life as a priest. I speak of how many of us miss the fact that we as Christians are called to have a unique personal relationship with Jesus. I appreciate these words are easily spoken and I have regularly encountered people, including people of strong faith, who have difficulty accepting this concept.
I have come to the conclusion that this lack of intimacy with Jesus, should be the cause of pastoral concern for us as church. In turn, it is, I believe one of the main contributing factors to the overall weakening of us as a faith community.
The church needs to regularly remind the faithful that they are called to be an alter Christus. In other words we are called to be the hands, the feet, the voice of Christ in a world in more need than ever of his message, and his living presence. At times the power, the sheer size of the institution, can allow us a complacency particularly when it comes to mission. The best possible antidote to spiritual indifference is passion. Passion for Jesus. It is in this context we must ask the question: how is it that so many have not heard this call to intimacy with Jesus?
Now whatever about it being understandable that many people outside the Church simply do not get this, is it not remarkable that so many in the Church have never even heard of the notion of intimacy with Christ. I do appreciate some see it as the preserve of the saints or at a push maybe the priests and religious. The fact that so many in the church do not grasp this for themselves as lay Catholics is a comment on us as Church. We have failed the faithful in this regard. They come to be fed in Word and Sacrament. They often leave hungry or spiritually malnourished and bad enough as this is, an equally lamentable correlation of this is, that they in turn, cannot be either salt or light to the world. In truth then I think it is fair to say that for us within the church we pay a high price for our lack of real intimacy with Jesus. This price is evident in our tepid approach to mission, in that we often settle for preaching to the converted. However the price we pay for this lack of intimacy is no where more evident than in our personal faith life. Put bluntly our pilgrim path is made much more difficult as a result of journeying without the benefit of Jesus. This is not some vague pious statement. This is much more gutsy than that.
This in turn brings us to a fundamental question: is it possible, in any meaningful sense, to have an intimate relationship with Jesus?
Intimacy implies a deep meaningful dynamic. Intimacy implies knowledge, trust and love. Intimacy is warm. Intimacy is mutual. I am often asked how can I speak of such a relationship with one who lived two thousand years ago. Of course this is often the immediate problem, in the sense at the heart of the question is an ignorance, in the original sense of that word, as in not knowing. The question betrays a lack of knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth as evidenced in the Gospels. My answer to the question, is such an intimacy possible, is a resounding yes. Not only is it possible, it is desirable, in fact I feel to be serious about being a follower of Jesus and not to have this, makes no sense. As a pilgrim edging our way towards the Lord and not to be actively engaged in deepening this core relationship, is for me, tantamount to spiritual suicide.
Fraternally, JoeMcD. 08.09.24
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