I
read recently in the book Evangelizing
Catholics by Scott Hahn that Pew researchers found in a study that “only
48% of Catholics believed beyond a doubt that God was a personal God, a God
whom they could know and with whom they could build a relationship[1].”
Pretty interesting information considering the word religion actually means “relationship.”
Hahn goes on to explain that this information means that at least to some extent
52% of Catholics think of God as an impersonal force. When I read this I was
amazed, I kept thinking to myself how could it be that just over half of the
people at Church each Sunday consider the same God who loved us so much that He
would give up His life for us to be quote on quote “impersonal.”
One
of the first things written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church is this: “The
life of man - to know and love God,” in a way this is our purpose in life—to
know and love God, but in order to get to know a person and fall in love with
someone, you have to have a relationship with them first. Our God is very much
an approachable God who wants to spend time with us and build a relationship
with us. When Jesus was here on this Earth He spent time with His disciples
getting to know them and experiencing life with them, and although Jesus is no
longer physically here with us He has this same desire for our lives today. Jesus longs to have a relationship with each
one of us and He never ceases to take the opportunity to draw us into a
relationship with Him. The problem is relationships are a two way street and
Jesus cannot do all the work; we have to meet Him half way, we have to accept His
love and be willing to put in the work to build a relationship with Him.
So
how do we do this? It starts with doing more than fulfilling our Sunday
obligation and going to Mass each Sunday. After all, if you simply went to see
a person each Sunday for one hour and you sat and stood when you were supposed
to, said the same things over and over even prayerfully, that wouldn’t do much
to build a strong relationship with that person—in many ways you would simply
be going through the motions. Mass on Sundays are where we go to worship God,
but if that is all the effort we give to build a relationship with God, than we’ve
missed our mark. As Catholics, as sons and daughters of the holy covenant, we
are called to communion and intimacy with God and in particular Our Lord Jesus
Christ, for to know Jesus is to know the Father. Building a relationship with
Jesus requires much more than spending an hour with Him each week, it requires
effort and conversation, it requires prayer, and it should take top priority in
our lives.
Each
one of us is called to communion and intimacy with Jesus, that’s the point of
our Catholic faith. The Lord never ceases to draw us closer to Him, but it is
up to us to respond to His invitation and we do so in faith. Scott Hahn
explains this further in his book when he states:
A
relationship with him [Jesus] isn’t just a part of our Catholic faith; it is our Catholic faith. Everything else
about being Catholic — the sacraments and saints, priests and rosaries, holy
water and the Bible itself —serves to facilitate that relationship. They’re
gifts to know him better, to help us draw closer to him and share in his life.[2]
Everything about our Catholic
faith—the Mass, the Bible, the Sacraments—are beautiful tools that should be
used to help us build a relationship with Christ. So, if all we ever did was
attend Mass we wouldn’t be doing much to foster a relationship with Christ. It
is up to us to spend time in prayer to tell Jesus about our day, ask him for
help with our problems, and try to get to know him better as we give him the
opportunity to get to know us. As Catholics we need to move beyond the one hour
every Sunday obligation spent at worship. We need to make God a part of our
lives in every moment of everyday. We need to spend time with Jesus every day,
not just one hour a week. If we hope to build a relationship with God it is
going to take time and effort, but in the end it will be rewarding and it will
allow us to grow and bear fruit.
Recall
the parable of the 10 virgins from the Gospel of Matthew who awaited the bride
groom, 5 were prepared and brought enough oil to light their lamps at night and
5 were not. While the 5 without oil went to buy some at the market, the
bridegroom came and went with the others who were prepared. When those 5
returned and knocked on the door they asked “‘Lord, Lord, open the door for
us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.[3]’”
The Lord knew 5 of the virgins and they did their part to build a relationship
with Him, but the other 5 were ill prepared. 48% of Catholics believe God to be
a person they can have a relationship with, the other 52% may not; we may not
know who is bringing the right amount of oil to light our lamps, but rest
assured when the time comes for us to knock on the door we do not want to hear
from the Lord “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.” It is up to us to build
a relationship with Jesus personally in our own life, remember the Lord always
does his part in building that relationship with each of us. Only you can
decide for yourself to meet the Lord on that two way street, when you do be comforted
by the fact that He is always there waiting with arms wide open offering us His
unending love and mercy.
[1] Evangelizing Catholics by Scott Hahn
[2] Evangelizing Catholics by Scott Hahn
[3]
Mathew 25:11-12
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