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Elijah_Baley
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What does this entail?
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ProdglArchitect
Guest
To me, this concept has always entailed being faithful to his teachings and the teachings of His Church; as well as always seeking to better yourself according to His laws.
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Rich_C
Guest
It means being a part of His Church, following His commands, receiving His sacraments regularly, and asking His guidance in your private prayer life.
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Prayer_Warrior
Guest
What does a relationship with anyone entail? Think about what you put into the earthly relationship that means most to you-- spouse, parent, best friend. Then apply that to Jesus.
In my view, to have a relationship with someone you love, you must spend time with them, you must try to know them, listen to them, talk to them and you must allow them to know the real you too. In a parental relationship, which is the best parallel to our relationship with God, we honor them and do what they say. When we are kids we have “faith” that our parents our right and if we are good kids we are obedient to them because they know what they are doing. We are humble because we know they know more than us. Of course, there are a lot of faulty and dysfunctional parents out there, but not Jesus. He is the ideal.
I’ve come to know Jesus through my faith-- in prayer, through the Scriptures, through Magisterial teaching, and through the Sacraments. This is where I spend time with Jesus. In prayer, for example, I have conversation with Him. I talk and He listens, and He talks and I listen. In the Scriptures (and in the teachings of the Church), I come to know Him. I come to know what is important to Him-- faith, hope, love, mercy, humility, etc. I learn how to walk in His way. Through the Sacraments I bear my soul to Him-- especially in confession. When I receive Him in the Eucharist, He is present to me and I am to Him, as best I can. It doesn’t get much more personal than that.
For Catholics who shy away from the expression “personal relationship with Jesus” I suggest that they read the Catechism which says we are called to a personal relationship with God. Furthermore, the last two popes have really encouraged a personal relationship with Jesus. Some guidance from them:
In my view, to have a relationship with someone you love, you must spend time with them, you must try to know them, listen to them, talk to them and you must allow them to know the real you too. In a parental relationship, which is the best parallel to our relationship with God, we honor them and do what they say. When we are kids we have “faith” that our parents our right and if we are good kids we are obedient to them because they know what they are doing. We are humble because we know they know more than us. Of course, there are a lot of faulty and dysfunctional parents out there, but not Jesus. He is the ideal.
I’ve come to know Jesus through my faith-- in prayer, through the Scriptures, through Magisterial teaching, and through the Sacraments. This is where I spend time with Jesus. In prayer, for example, I have conversation with Him. I talk and He listens, and He talks and I listen. In the Scriptures (and in the teachings of the Church), I come to know Him. I come to know what is important to Him-- faith, hope, love, mercy, humility, etc. I learn how to walk in His way. Through the Sacraments I bear my soul to Him-- especially in confession. When I receive Him in the Eucharist, He is present to me and I am to Him, as best I can. It doesn’t get much more personal than that.
For Catholics who shy away from the expression “personal relationship with Jesus” I suggest that they read the Catechism which says we are called to a personal relationship with God. Furthermore, the last two popes have really encouraged a personal relationship with Jesus. Some guidance from them:
The task which awaits you—the new evangelization—demands that you present, with fresh enthusiasm and new methods, the eternal and unchanging content of the heritage of the Christian faith. As you well know it is not a matter of merely passing on a doctrine, but rather of a personal and profound meeting with the Saviour. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Commissioning Families, Neo-Catechumenal Way. 1991.
Sometimes even Catholics have lost or never had the chance to experience Christ personally: not Christ as a mere ‘paradigm’ or ‘value’, but as the living Lord, ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, L’Osservatore Romano (English Edition of the Vatican Newspaper), March 24, 1993, p.3.
Practical activity will always be insufficient, unless it visibly expresses a love for man, a love nourished by an encounter with Christ. —Ibid. 34.
…we can be witnesses only if we know Christ first hand, and not only through others — from our own life, from our personal encounter with Christ. Finding him really in our life of faith, we become witnesses and can contribute to the novelty of the world, to eternal life. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Vatican City, January 20th, 2010, Zenit
“it must then be ourselves (who) become personally involved in an intimate and deep relationship with Jesus.” —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Catholic News Service, October 4th, 2006
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Scoobyshme
Guest
Remember, Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey My Commandments.”
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rdesjardins
Guest
What a great reply Prayer_Warrior.
Thank you.
Ray D.
Thank you.
Ray D.
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Michael_Mayo
Guest
Total surrender.What does this entail?
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Dubay
Guest
Prayers to Deity exclusively.
Timothy tells us;
The only mediator between man and God is Jesus Christ
Timothy tells us;
The only mediator between man and God is Jesus Christ
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Elijah_Baley
Guest
Little of this helps.
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AlanFromWichita
Guest
There is a difference between reading a person’s resume and stories about their lives, and actually spending time with that person. The former we say, “I know a lot about that person,” or we may even dare, “I know that person,” but unless the latter has taken place you really can’t say, “that person is my friend.” Note that Jesus called us “friends,” so people who say that it’s arrogant to say Jesus is our personal friend are off the mark – it may be presumptuous, but not necessarily arrogant.
We do this during Eucharistic Adoration. We don’t have to rack our brains trying to figure Him out, we just sit in His presence. Similarly, when we do contemplative prayer, our prayer, offered in silence and a quiet mind, achieves unity with Jesus and again does not require “figuring anything out” and in fact if you’re trying to understand Jesus during contemplative prayer then you have missed the point and made it intellectual instead of experiential which is more like a meditation, or something you might do during Adoration.
Now when many Protestants say “personal relationship with Jesus” I think they mean well but I think a lot of them think that because they study scripture a whole lot and can quote Bible passages, etc. and that they get rushes of warm fuzzies when Jesus’s name is mentioned, they now have a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Actually not just Protestants, but the Catholics I hear say that sometimes have the same problem. It’s mental and emotional, but they still don’t have a sense that they and Jesus are “hand in hand” at any given moment during the day.
To really do this, one thing that works for me is to learn to treat everyone like they were as important as Jesus. After all, whatsoever we do to others, we do to Him, right? So if we treat each other like “Jesus is great but you are not as much,” then I submit it isn’t really personal and heartfelt because we haven’t totally gotten His message yet. It’s easy to treat someone like Jesus under the right circumstances. But what if that person is “undesirable?” They are dirty or messy or angry or stupid or otherwise annoying. If we can’t see Jesus in them just like everybody else, then I submit our “relationship” with Jesus is mental and superficial – and therefore does NOT qualify as a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Or if you’re just starting, it shows you have not matured – like a pot that isn’t quite simmering yet.
I guess it’s easier to write about what it isn’t than what it is. I’ll pause for now, though, and see if this is what you’re looking for. And by the way, if you can’t see the Jesus in yourself, then you are in for a treat when you do learn how to do it. Because we are to love and respect each other as ourselves, not INSTEAD OF ourselves.
Peace and joy,
Alan
We do this during Eucharistic Adoration. We don’t have to rack our brains trying to figure Him out, we just sit in His presence. Similarly, when we do contemplative prayer, our prayer, offered in silence and a quiet mind, achieves unity with Jesus and again does not require “figuring anything out” and in fact if you’re trying to understand Jesus during contemplative prayer then you have missed the point and made it intellectual instead of experiential which is more like a meditation, or something you might do during Adoration.
Now when many Protestants say “personal relationship with Jesus” I think they mean well but I think a lot of them think that because they study scripture a whole lot and can quote Bible passages, etc. and that they get rushes of warm fuzzies when Jesus’s name is mentioned, they now have a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Actually not just Protestants, but the Catholics I hear say that sometimes have the same problem. It’s mental and emotional, but they still don’t have a sense that they and Jesus are “hand in hand” at any given moment during the day.
To really do this, one thing that works for me is to learn to treat everyone like they were as important as Jesus. After all, whatsoever we do to others, we do to Him, right? So if we treat each other like “Jesus is great but you are not as much,” then I submit it isn’t really personal and heartfelt because we haven’t totally gotten His message yet. It’s easy to treat someone like Jesus under the right circumstances. But what if that person is “undesirable?” They are dirty or messy or angry or stupid or otherwise annoying. If we can’t see Jesus in them just like everybody else, then I submit our “relationship” with Jesus is mental and superficial – and therefore does NOT qualify as a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Or if you’re just starting, it shows you have not matured – like a pot that isn’t quite simmering yet.
I guess it’s easier to write about what it isn’t than what it is. I’ll pause for now, though, and see if this is what you’re looking for. And by the way, if you can’t see the Jesus in yourself, then you are in for a treat when you do learn how to do it. Because we are to love and respect each other as ourselves, not INSTEAD OF ourselves.
Peace and joy,
Alan
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fred_conty
Guest
The company I once worked for had us attend a seminar presented by an outside motivational firm. They explained that there were different ways to solve problems. They presented four ways. Then they asked the whole group which way they solve problems. Then they divided the group in four groups depending on which way each individual would solve a problem.
Long story short, it was a real eye opener for me. I never realized how differently people think.
This is problably true on the spiritual level. People think differently, and what works for one may not work for someone else.
So how one gets close to Jesus is probably not the same for all. It may be nice if it were so simple, but then we aren’t.
Just a thought.
Long story short, it was a real eye opener for me. I never realized how differently people think.
This is problably true on the spiritual level. People think differently, and what works for one may not work for someone else.
So how one gets close to Jesus is probably not the same for all. It may be nice if it were so simple, but then we aren’t.
Just a thought.
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Elijah_Baley
Guest
Took a spirituality quiz online once. Came up Thomistic. Figuring things out has been my avenue of adoration, because the beauty of truth, the crispness of something I almost saw once, has been the thing spurring me to practice my faith.
So I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. I just know that, apparently, I’m doing it all wrong. I’m the sort of guy who would have been a rubricist when that was a discipline.
Just as the orthodox understanding of “social justice” has been eclipsed by its use as a code word for dissent, the orthodox understanding of “relationship with Christ” has been eclipsed by a kind of “best buddy Jesus” mentality. How will an authentic relationship with Jesus manifest itself in my mode of adoration, focused as it is on forcing myself into discipline for His sake?
So I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. I just know that, apparently, I’m doing it all wrong. I’m the sort of guy who would have been a rubricist when that was a discipline.
Just as the orthodox understanding of “social justice” has been eclipsed by its use as a code word for dissent, the orthodox understanding of “relationship with Christ” has been eclipsed by a kind of “best buddy Jesus” mentality. How will an authentic relationship with Jesus manifest itself in my mode of adoration, focused as it is on forcing myself into discipline for His sake?
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AlanFromWichita
Guest
You asked a great question.How will an authentic relationship with Jesus manifest itself in my mode of adoration, focused as it is on forcing myself into discipline for His sake?
How about a prayer expression that St. Teresa calls, “nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.”
Or a prayer about which the CCC says, “is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son.”
and (CCC) " is a communion in which the Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, “to his likeness.”
… " turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the ‘interior knowledge of our Lord,’ the more to love him and follow him."
… " is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery."
All of the above quotes were from CCC 2709-2724, and refer to contemplative prayer. Without contemplative prayer I would still be psychotic. But contemplative prayer was a key factor in my own learning and healing, and now I’m truly in the kingdom! :heaven:
Peace and joy,
Alan
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CB_Catholic
Guest
One of the best descriptions of a personal relationship was from a woman on a retreat I attended who wasn’t even trying to answer the question.
She had children to raise alone after a divorce when she was young. She stated something like–“They (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) went everywhere with me. They were in on every decision I made. If I needed a new refrigerator, they went with me to pick it out. If I had to discipline a child, they were there. They helped me every step of the way.” I thought that was pretty profound, and rather like the relationship St. Therese had.
She had children to raise alone after a divorce when she was young. She stated something like–“They (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) went everywhere with me. They were in on every decision I made. If I needed a new refrigerator, they went with me to pick it out. If I had to discipline a child, they were there. They helped me every step of the way.” I thought that was pretty profound, and rather like the relationship St. Therese had.
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