{"id":59924,"date":"2011-05-13T00:48:46","date_gmt":"2011-05-13T00:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thesmokingpriest\/?p=59924"},"modified":"2011-05-13T00:48:46","modified_gmt":"2011-05-13T00:48:46","slug":"getting-real-and-getting-serious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thesmokingpriest\/2011\/05\/getting-real-and-getting-serious.html","title":{"rendered":"Getting Real and Getting Serious"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Getting directions from someone when you are lost can be a frustrating experience.\u00a0 Perhaps you scramble for a piece of paper to scribble a few indications like &#8220;go right at the light and then take your first left&#8221;.\u00a0 Maybe the person who gives you directions is wrong, and instead of a right, you should have taken a left.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Sometimes you come across a kind person who says &#8220;Come, I will take you there&#8221;.\u00a0 In this case, the person <em>is<\/em> the way and you cannot go wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Jesus tells us that he is the way.\u00a0 Jesus does not give us advice and directions; he takes us by the hand and leads us to eternal life in heaven.\u00a0 He does not tell us about the way, he <em>is<\/em> the way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Christianity is essentially different from all other religions because the Christian does not merely follow a series of rules and regulations, nor does he submit himself to a guru&#8217;s indications of how to live certain austere principles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Christianity is not about a what, but about a whom.\u00a0 Ultimately, Christianity is about relationship and of course, the greatest relationship of all.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Christianity is about a relationship with the best friend anyone could ever have; i.e., Jesus Christ.\u00a0 <em>&#8220;I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Married couples, boyfriends and girlfriends and even dear friends understand what relationship is all about.\u00a0 True friendship is true personal love. True friendship is not based upon an arrangement of rules.\u00a0 Friendship goes much deeper than this.\u00a0 Friendship is a relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Through the Easter mystery of Baptism, we are incorporated into Christ.\u00a0 This life of sanctifying grace launches us into an awesome bond with Jesus Christ. <em>&#8220;But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God&#8217;s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light&#8221;.<\/em> (1 Peter 2: 9)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Our relationship with Jesus is personal.\u00a0 He is real because he is alive.\u00a0 He is a living person that sees you, that hears you, that speaks with you and that walks with you.\u00a0 He is there to bless you and to strengthen you.\u00a0 He is with you to sustain you and to dry your tears.\u00a0 Jesus is always there because he has truly risen on Easter Sunday morning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Our relationship with Jesus is real.\u00a0 Before his death on the cross, in the intimacy of the Upper Room where he imparted to his dear friends his last words before his Passion and Resurrection, he said: <em>&#8220;If you love me, keep my commandments&#8221;.<\/em> (John 14: 15)\u00a0 Love is not based upon empty words and wishful thinking; love is translated into action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">When Jesus speaks to us in the Gospels about humility, service, patience, chastity, honesty, apostolic zeal and the other gospel virtues, he calls us to put these virtues into practice within the circumstances of our daily lives.\u00a0 We show Jesus our true love by doing gospel deeds.\u00a0 Our relationship is so personal, that we become another Jesus.\u00a0 We talk like him, we think like him, we feel like him and we act like him.\u00a0 Authentic relationship automatically brings us to imitation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Any true friendship needs to be nourished by relationship.\u00a0 When we spend a lot of time away from a friend, the friendship begins to die. The adage: &#8220;Out of sight, out of mind&#8221;, is very true.\u00a0 In order to love, we need to spend time with the Beloved.\u00a0 Contemplative prayer, the assiduous meditation of the Scriptures, the daily reception of the Eucharist and frequent Confession are the preferred moments of intimacy with the risen Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">My new book, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fatherjames.org\/\">Get Serious! A Survival Guide for Serious Catholics<\/a><\/strong> will give you the practical stuff that you need to live a serious relationship with Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">If you want to get real,<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fatherjames.org\" target=\"_blank\"> read my book<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getting directions from someone when you are lost can be a frustrating experience.\u00a0 Perhaps you scramble for a piece of paper to scribble a few indications like &#8220;go right at the light and then take your first left&#8221;.\u00a0 Maybe the person who gives you directions is wrong, and instead of a right, you should have&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":382,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,83],"tags":[3,21,20,16],"class_list":["post-59924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-spirituality","category-jesus","tag-catholic","tag-christian","tag-get-serious","tag-jesus"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - 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