Thursday, August 27, 2009

Define Personal

I came across this very thought-provoking post at DarwinCatholic as I perused the internet this morning (yes, 2:00 am is very early in the morning--it's my attempt to find peace amid the bike-revving, door-slamming, bottle-crashing, drunk-screaming racket at the end of my street, thanks to the sooo very fabulous drinking establishment on the corner of my street. Pray for me.)

"Jesus Is Not My Pal talks about a misconception I think many Christians hold regarding what personal relationship with Christ really means, and Darwin is right: BFF ain't it. Part of the reason for this, I believe, is a grave misunderstanding about who and what Jesus is, and who and what we as believers are. I've actually heard someone say to me that when she dies, she believes that she's going right to heaven so she can run up and give Jesus a great big hug and hold his hand and have a nice long chit-chat with him.

Um, no.

Why people are so misguided in this regard is a topic for another sleepless night. It's sufficient to say here that John 1 states: "(v1)In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God...(v8) and the Word became flesh." Jesus is the Word made flesh consubstantial with The Father. He is our God, and we are His people. Psalm 95 call us to "come, worship the Lord, for we are His people, the flock that He shepherds". Jesus even calls Himself "The Good Shepherd".

As Darwin's title says so perfectly, Jesus isn't our "pal", and I really doubt He wants to be our "pal". The Last Supper comes to mind. Christ washes each of His disciples' feet--a very personal, very humble act done by only the most lowly of servants--and then tells them:
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. Jn 13:14-16
He gets down on His knees to teach us how to serve, and then expects us to get on our knees and serve one another, too. He's a humble, gentle Master who serves and deeply loves his people, but He's the Master nonetheless, and doing as he commands out of love for Him and love for one another is the evidence of our personal relationship with Jesus.

Aren't we commanded in the Gospel to love the Lord our God with our whole hearts, souls, minds and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves? No relationship is more personal than one that truly gives the entire self to God and to one another. This kind of relationship is far more intimate than just being pals.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

the trouble with Pal's and or friends is that they come and go but Jesus never leaves us and he is there for us when we have a hard time with the coming and going of "pals".

DarwinCatholic said...

Thanks, I think you put it very clearly. :-)

--Darwin

Anonymous said...

Gina, well written article. you should be woken up by drunken brawls more often.It gets the FIRE reved up in you.... I totally agree with you. I have enough "pals" here on earth. And lets face it, if I NEED TOTAL UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND HELP, do I use my quarter for the phone to call a not so dependable "pal", or do I call my FATHER!!!!!!! yes, I know earthly father concept is SO different than our Heavenly FATHER, but, to me at least, they BOTH have always stood for the one who would SACRAFICE ALL to SAVE HIS CHILDREN...... THAT is the difference between JESUS as a friend and JESUS as our UNCONDITIONAL PROTECTOR AND FATHER, as long as WE FOLLOW HIS RULES, AS A FATHER ALWAYS REQUIRES ANYWAY........ I really wouldn't want to go to Ceder Point with my ROCK SOLID FATHER..... totally simplistic analagy, I realize, but sometimes simple is easier for our "pals" on earth to grasp.... love you always, Janet

Anonymous said...

Gina, just a little "side bar" to your article and my response from it....... What WOULD someone "chit-chat" to our MOST HOLY GOD AND FATHER about???... "cute sandals Jesus, where did you buy them, payless?"..... sorry, just a bit of sarcastic humor from your loving sister Janet.... I'm sorry , but SOMEONE had to say "out loud" what you KNOW YOU were also thinking about inside your own little sarcastic corner of your mind...........

Gina said...

Darwin, thank you for inspiring it!

Gina said...

Anonymous writes: "the trouble with Pal's and or friends is that they come and go but Jesus never leaves us and he is there for us when we have a hard time with the coming and going of "pals"." you are right. The relationship with Jesus is permanent, through this life and the next.

Gina said...

Janet...the whole "let me run up and hug Jesus" is such a terrible attitude! It's like He's NOT a part of her life now. Why wait until you die to have a "chit-chat" with Him? Why imagine this fairy-tale when the real thing, WORSHIPING HIM in the Eucharist, is now and real? Some of my most intense experiences of Christ's ever-presence both with me personally and at the same time among all of us have been around His Body & Blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. I know that's where you pray most fervently, Janet, before the Blessed Sacrament. Why diminish that with a "buddy-buddy" thing? Thanks for reading, Janet, and for your comments.

Shirley said...

My only non Catholic sister thinks that those who have accepted Jesus as their "personal Saviour" have a free ticket to "Paradise" when they die. She also thinks that she only has to pray to Jesus and that we Catholics "have to"pray to Mary and the Saints. I pray for her, and hope that when she dies, it's Mary who greets her first, and says, "Let me take you to my Son............."

Anonymous said...

dearest Gina, You are so very correct about where I feel the closest to our LORD, "IN THE EUCHARIST".... in fact, during the consecration at the alter, I hold tightly to my cricifix necklace, and "mouth" the entire wordings, out loud, and slowely, ALONG WITH my priest.... At THIS moment, I have never felt more humble,grateful,and close in spirit with our LORD. In fact, when I get back to my seat after receiving our LORD, i close my eyes, and let HIS BODY slowely melt all the way down through my body, lighting, cleansing and filling me body and soul all the way down to my toes..... I don't know if SOME may think of this as "friendship", but I, personally, think of it as REVERENCE and GRATITUDE..... THAT is what fills me up with the Holy Spirit, not any type of chit-chatting involved. I am NOT WORTHY enough to chit-chat with SUCH AWESOME POWER AND GLORY !!!!! That's what you and I have EACH OTHER'S friendship for.. love you my sister, Janet

Gina said...

Shirley, thank you for reading! Our Lady just might do that for your sister. She's a powerful intercessor for us to her Son.

..and also Janet: I think the biggest misconception is the idea that "Prayer" and "Worship" are synonymous. Prayer is dialogue, and we can dialogue with anyone we want, living or dead. That might just be the root of a lot of these misunderstandings. Yes, we can also dialogue with Christ, and most definitely SHOULD pray to Him, but ultimately worship is sacrifice, and we enter into that at the altar, through the Most Blessed Sacrament of His Body & Blood.

Anonymous said...

Gina, I could NOT have said it any better than that.... YOU have just figured out AND defined the entire MISGUIDED "thinking process" of so many...........Janet

Gina said...

Well, it's not the only problem, but it's definitely one of the bigger culprits, and it's one of quite a few misconceptions that makes apologetics very difficult. Christians of other faiths will throw an accusation out there, whether they've bothered to check it out completely as to its accuracy, and perpetually keep Catholics on the defensive, when 99.99999999% of the time the accusation is completely wrong.

AHHHH!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...