Walking the Path
Okay. I have a confession to make. I have been a lifelong Catholic, raised in a family that was very engaged in their faith community (Thanks, Dad!), but even after decades of ministry, I hadn’t connected some of the dots between the readings of the Mass and my faith – until, maybe, seven years ago. Yes, Mass participation was something that I valued, and I was happy to serve as a reader, extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, member of the choir, or any other ministry, but I was viewing the readings as standalone snippets and not viewing them as a whole. I saw them as stories about Jesus, but they were, somehow, hermetically sealed, and set apart from real life. Yes, I knew that the gospels featured true stories, that really happened, but there was a “sanitized,” feeling about them. As a matter of fact, I recently learned that I’m not alone! The other day, I read an ad from Ascension Press that said, “Sometimes Jesus can feel like more of a concept, than a person for many of us. And, although we can know a lot about him, it’s impossible to have a relationship with a concept.” I couldn’t have said it better! I bring this up, because, as we move from faith in an institution to a personal relationship with Jesus, I think we all recognize that we have to have the ability to, actually, see Jesus as a person. Yes, as the Second Person of the Trinity, but fully human as well. Today, I want to expand on what I shared, last week, about actually reading the gospels in their entirety. Here, I’ll take a moment to share a couple of additional ways to connect with Jesus in order to build that relationship.
First of all, for many of us, the humanity of Jesus can make him seem, almost, like a shadow of a man. Back in the day, for me, Jesus almost glides through the scenes of scripture. Rarely am I thinking about his grumbling stomach, or him having to dodge random goat poop. I know that I can probably blame the religious movies and videos of my youth for that. After all, it hasn’t been until recently that Christians have had the opportunity to see far more realistic representations of Jesus’ life through movies like Mel Gibson’s, “The Passion of the Christ,” or TV’s “The Chosen.” Now, of course, the writers, producers, and directors, etc., use artistic license in their production, so they may not be one hundred percent accurate, but these first steps are, at least, helping to bridge the gap. Taking the opportunity to watch these types of productions can help us in fleshing out our vision of Jesus.
The other way to grow in our understanding of who Jesus was (and is), is to study what we know from an in-depth look at the scriptures. As I said, read the Gospels, but don’t stop there. The Book of Acts is a treasure-trove of information about the early Church, as are the letters of the New Testament. Start by reading them, but you can also participate in formal studies, or read books by Catholic authors that take the time to connect us to Jesus, like Peter Kreeft’s, The Man Who Left His Mark: How Mark’s Gospel Answers Modern Questions, or Richard Rohr’s, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe. Honestly, there are too many books to name, by more authors than I can even begin to remember!
Rather than being daunted by the heap of texts that I could choose to read, including the scriptures, I choose to see each page as an opportunity to learn more about Jesus and how he related to his best buds, his mother, and more… to me. The opportunities for growth in understanding are endless, which means that the well won’t run dry. What a blessing – one that can quench my spiritual thirst until my last breath.
