Too Much Jesus

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amontoya

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I am a Christian who is interested in the Catholic Church and has been learning what I can. To that end, I have been listening to the local Catholic radio station. The other day on one of the programs, a man stated that non-catholic Christians focus too much on Jesus. He thought that Catholics have a deeper faith, because they focus on other things.

My question to you nice Catholics is this: how can a Christian, regardless of denomination, ever focus “too much” on Jesus? He is our Lord and Savior. He is our God.

Is this a belief generally held by Catholics? Do Catholics believe there is such a thing as “too much Jesus?”
 
Peace be with you!

Well, first off, I didn’t hear that show, so I can’t comment on what the man meant by that, but I can tell you that there is never such thing as too much Jesus! I think what that man may have meant (just going off of what you said) is that Catholics let ourselves be drawn to Christ by many different means. For example, we follow Jesus first and foremost, as any Christian does. But at the same time, we look to the saints and to Mary as examples of how to lead a good Christian life and to help us be drawn even CLOSER to Jesus.

In Christ,
Rand
 
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amontoya:
I am a Christian who is interested in the Catholic Church and has been learning what I can. To that end, I have been listening to the local Catholic radio station. The other day on one of the programs, a man stated that non-catholic Christians focus too much on Jesus. He thought that Catholics have a deeper faith, because they focus on other things.

My question to you nice Catholics is this: how can a Christian, regardless of denomination, ever focus “too much” on Jesus? He is our Lord and Savior. He is our God.

Is this a belief generally held by Catholics? Do Catholics believe there is such a thing as “too much Jesus?”
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Hi, that caller is sorely misinformed (or maybe not good enough with words to get his point across). The entire focus of mass is centered around Jesus Christ. I think what he may have been trying to say, is that Catholicism is a life commitment, and it isn’t just focused on the ‘feel good Jesus’. I didn’t hear the show, so I can’t comment any further. But if you want to listen to some real good Catholic radio, then check out ewtn.com/, avemariaradio.net & relevantradio.com.

God bless,
 
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amontoya:
I am a Christian who is interested in the Catholic Church and has been learning what I can. To that end, I have been listening to the local Catholic radio station. The other day on one of the programs, a man stated that non-catholic Christians focus too much on Jesus. He thought that Catholics have a deeper faith, because they focus on other things.

My question to you nice Catholics is this: how can a Christian, regardless of denomination, ever focus “too much” on Jesus? He is our Lord and Savior. He is our God.

Is this a belief generally held by Catholics? Do Catholics believe there is such a thing as “too much Jesus?”
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As a nasty Catholic, I cannot for a moment imagine how one can focus on Him “too much”. I’ve seldom heard such nonsense​

 
I wouldn’t listen to the fellow. We could spend every waking moment thinking about Jesus and it wouldn’t be enough.
 
Is there really such a thing as “too much Jesus”? No, because we can never have enough of Him. However, the impression some have is that we don’t emphasize on Jesus so much, which is not true as well. The Church always points to Jesus. Even when we pray to Mary or the saints, the thought should always be on Jesus. The saints are there as our brothers and sisters in Christ, and they pray for us and with us to Jesus. So in the end, it’s always Christ.
 
actually the Catholics think we have “more Jesus” because in our theology He is really, truly present in all the sacraments, because He is sacramentally present in the Eucharist, from which all the other sacraments flow. We believe that not only do we have Him in His sacred Word, but receive Him sacramentally, body, blood, soul and divinity into our bodies, hearts and souls in holy communion.
 
Too much Jesus and not enough God the Father. The Creed starts " I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and …" I think this was in " The Ratzinger Report" or one of his other writings.
 
I wonder how one could have “too much Jesus” in the Church He founded? I would have to have heard the show to understand the context. Was it a national show on your local radio station?
 
Perhaps, and this is just a wild guess because I too didn’t hear the show, he meant that we worship the Trinity not just Jesus. And in fact, Jesus’ mission was to reconcile us to the Father through his, Christ’s, redemptive act and by means of the Holy Spirit acting in our lives through the Sacraments. Or something along those lines? 😉
 
Jesus is the centre of our Catholic faith. Every mass is a personal contact with Him. We honour Mary because she is Jesus’ Mother. We honour each of the saints because they modelled their lives on Jesus and His teachings. The Catholic faith was founded by Jesus Himself, not by Luther or Calvin or Zwingli or Henry VIII of Joseph Smith or Charles Wesley BUT by Jesus.

That radio program is way off track.

The only way the radio comment might mean something is that, as CS Lewis observed, we must also have an understanding of the Blessed Trinity. We worship a triune God, that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit - One God but in three Persons. You will notice that at mass our liturgical prayers are addressed to the Father, through the Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Godhead has a special role to play in our spiritual life and we need to remember that in our prayers.
 
I explained this in my intro thread, but although I don’t neccesarily call myself Catholic now, I was raised Catholic and still worship in a Catholic church. But from what I’ve always understood, Jesus has always been continually at the core of the Christian faith, no matter what denomination. Through the Catholic sacraments or through the Protestant beliefs alike… if Jesus isn’t at the centre of it all, then how may we call it a true relationship with God? I believe that man on the radio was mistaken or at the very least, confused. You can never have too much Jesus… it’s impossible, really. Everything from the Sacraments to prayer to the way we love each other points back to Him.
 
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Della:
Perhaps, and this is just a wild guess because I too didn’t hear the show, he meant that we worship the Trinity not just Jesus. And in fact, Jesus’ mission was to reconcile us to the Father through his, Christ’s, redemptive act and by means of the Holy Spirit acting in our lives through the Sacraments. Or something along those lines? 😉
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This was my thought. I’ve heard Fr. Benedict Groeschel on EWTN mention this on his Sunday Night Live show. I think he gave an example of Baptism in Assemblies of God chuches. They say something like “I Baptise you in the name of Jesus Christ…” instead of “…in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
 
This is my thought as well. Many protestant churches, especially those who are so called non-denominationals, are Christiologically centered. The Catholic Church is Trinitarian. Can you even claim to believe that Jesus is God if you avoid the Trinity?
 
First, thank you for your replies. Second, I don’t know if the program was local or national. I don’t even know the name of the program. Third, while I obviously can’t be sure of what he was intending, what he said was that Catholics have a deeper faith than non-catholics, because non-catholics are all “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”

I believe in the Trinity. I pray to God the Father through Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit intercedes for me(Romans 8:26-27). I was baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I don’t think Catholics have an advantage there. However, since Jesus is God, and I am a Christian, shouldn’t my worship be Christocentric? How can I obtain a deeper faith without focusing on “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus?”

I really want to know. I feel that (much to my dismay), I am being called to join the Catholic Church, but there are many things I can’t reconcile with. This whole thing just threw me for a loop! How can someone, deepen their faith without focusing too much on Jesus?
 
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amontoya:
First, thank you for your replies. Second, I don’t know if the program was local or national. I don’t even know the name of the program. Third, while I obviously can’t be sure of what he was intending, what he said was that Catholics have a deeper faith than non-catholics, because non-catholics are all “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”

I believe in the Trinity. I pray to God the Father through Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit intercedes for me(Romans 8:26-27). I was baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I don’t think Catholics have an advantage there. However, since Jesus is God, and I am a Christian, shouldn’t my worship be Christocentric? How can I obtain a deeper faith without focusing on “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus?”

I really want to know. I feel that (much to my dismay), I am being called to join the Catholic Church, but there are many things I can’t reconcile with. This whole thing just threw me for a loop! How can someone, deepen their faith without focusing too much on Jesus?
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God be with you in your journey of faith. May He lead you to His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I was a convert, too, so my empathy to you in what I know can be a difficult time.

Our faith is all about Jesus, in and out, up and down, totally saturated with HIM. I don’t know the context of what you heard, but it doesn’t sound kosher.
 
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amontoya:
I am a Christian who is interested in the Catholic Church and has been learning what I can. To that end, I have been listening to the local Catholic radio station. The other day on one of the programs, a man stated that non-catholic Christians focus too much on Jesus. He thought that Catholics have a deeper faith, because they focus on other things.

My question to you nice Catholics is this: how can a Christian, regardless of denomination, ever focus “too much” on Jesus? He is our Lord and Savior. He is our God.

Is this a belief generally held by Catholics? Do Catholics believe there is such a thing as “too much Jesus?”
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Dear Friend,
I think either this man on the radio was either mistaken or misinterpreted.
I feel some protestants do use our Lord’s name far too readily in speech for such a Sacred name and maybe at the expence of knowledge of the Trinity. I have known some that with over use of our Lord’s name do fall into this trap and eventually see a divided Trinity (as per Mormons) rather than the 3 in 1, undivided and Holy and perfect Trinity; it all goes to Theology.
Another point is that many (or all) protestants miss out on the virtue and value of the communion of Saints and will not read up on these Holy people that have or had devoted their whole lives to Christ, John Paul II for example. How many non-Catholic Christians have read books written by this most Holy man or St Catherine of Sienna, St Dominic, St Therese, Bl Mother Teresa etc? Many gifts are given to the Saints for us to learn from Christ himself through thier total devotion to him.
Our Lady too is a forgotten Saint, the highest of all saints, the Mother of our Lord to many non-Catholic Christians. This is maybe what this man (inadequatly) was referring too.
Hope this helps and God Bless
Br CreosMary
 
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