Love

I recently heard someone say that it is easier to know something than to love someone.  I think this can be a factor in our lives of faith.  It is much easier to learn about and know about Jesus than it is to have a relationship with Him.  As followers of Jesus, or disciples, we are called to deepen our relationship with Jesus but what does that mean? 

There was a Jesuit priest by the name of Pedro Arrupe SJ.  He was the superior general of the Society of Jesus.  From what I have read, he was a great orator and he spoke at A Eucharistic Convocation in Boston in the mid-70s.  The topic he spoke about was being in love with Jesus which at that time was not common terminology for Catholics.    The story is told that he gave this long, beautiful talk on loving Jesus and someone in the large crowd raised his hand and said something to the effect of “That’s all-great Father, but I need something practical!”  and Fr Arrupe without skipping a beat said the following. 

“Nothing is more practical for finding God than falling in love 

in a quite absolute, final way. 

What you are in love with, 

what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. 

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, 

what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, 

 what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, 

and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. 

Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” 

Imagine being able to respond to a question with that passionate response! I find great joy in this description of finding God and a great challenge!  Who doesn’t want to Fall in love with Jesus and have that effect what amazes us and have it determine how we spend our time.

As the Fall approaches and schedules are created for work and home, I find myself challenged. How does my life reflect my relationship with Jesus? Does your life reflect this relationship? Does the way I spend my time reflect my relationship with the Lord?  It will decide everything!  Does my relationship with Jesus decide everything or do I keep it as a safe compartmentalized part of my life?   This isn’t the description of a distant God or God that is judging us based on what we know about Him. This is a description of God who knows the messiness of life and wants to be in it with us, but we must invite him in, recognize his presence with us, and be willing to fall in love. 

The challenge for me is to be intentional in how I make time for prayer in a variety of ways this year and how I live my faith.  We all know how easy it is to get super busy and our culture almost celebrates being over committed.  I think I need to find some simple ways to increase my daily prayer to a longer session once a week.  I need to create intentional ways to incorporate more prayer into my life to continue to grow in my relationship with Jesus!  What do you need to do to be more intentional about your relationship with Jesus? 

The challenge for this new school year ahead :  Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything!