Monday, May 25, 2015

Monday of the 7th Week of Easter, Cycle B - May 18, 2015

Monday of the 7th Week of Easter
May 18, 2015       8:30am


I think I have a personal relationship with Jesus.
I am pretty sure I do, although I am also pretty sure that the relationship still needs to grow.
Saint Paul in today’s first reading is telling the people of Ephesus that it is not enough for them to consider themselves free or forgiven of sin.
That’s not enough. 
They need a personal relationship with Jesus.
I see a number of ingredients involved in having this.

We need to listen to Jesus and we first and foremost do that through the Scripture.
We need to listen to the gospels, to what Jesus says and does, and then meditate on what this means for us.
That is absolutely fundamental.
Then we need to speak.
We need to talk with him in our own words, within our inner selves.
We need to bring ourselves as we are, with our struggles, doubts, needs, hopes, strengths, weaknesses, everything that we are.
Then we need consciously to look at life, as we approach each situation, with Jesus in mind.
The question, “What would Jesus do?” is not just for children.
We need to evaluate our words and actions by the standard of Jesus and allow him to influence all that we do.
And then, besides doing this alone, personally, individually, we also need to do all of this in the community of faith, the Church.
And for us, that means here at Mass, the celebration and reception of the Eucharist.
The sacraments and the guidance of the Church sustain, nourish, and enrich our personal relationship with Jesus. 

That’s how I see the basics of a personal relationship with Jesus.
That’s what Saint Paul in today’s first reading calls us to have.

That’s what Pope Francis today repeatedly calls us to have.