How A Person Finds Jesus

How A Person Finds Jesus Christ
 

By Thomas Stidl

         Many people of other non-Christian faiths have asked me how I found Jesus Christ.  I usually tell them that I was baptized as a baby and educated in my Catholic faith by my family, Priests, and Religious Nuns and Brothers.  They encouraged me to receive the available sacraments at their proper time in my life.  I was also taught to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, The Father, and the Holy Spirit by meditation on such prayers as the Rosary.  That particular prayer also creates a loving relationship with Mary, the Mother of God.

         The next question asked of me is how does any person not as gifted as I am develop a relationship with Jesus.  Will He come to me directly?  I usually say maybe yes or maybe no.  Since he or she is already thinking about this subject, in all probability the Holy Spirit has been enlightening his mind.  All Catholics know that the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son.  I proceed to tell the person that and also ask them to say a prayer of supplication to the Holy Spirit.  What will the Holy Spirit do?  He will lead you to his spouse, The Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the mother of God, Jesus Christ himself.  Like any good mother, before presenting you to her Son, she will begin a spiritual grooming process deep inside of you.  This is a type of ‘wash your hands and comb your hair spiritual activity so to speak.  In the meantime the Holy Spirit is preparing you with how to correct your faults and have a deep longing and thirst for Jesus Christ in your life.

         Once Mary feels you are ready, she will introduce you to her Son, Jesus.  Now Mary may feel you are ready immediately and Jesus may show up unannounced.  Either way, at that first encounter, you will either accept or place your relationship with Jesus on hold by rejecting some of his teachings.  Once you accept all his teachings and find that you cannot live without Jesus in your life, you are then ready for intense religious education culminating in the reception of the Sacrament of Baptism which washes away all your sins including original sin that you had on your soul when born, the Sacrament of Confirmation which imparts the full reception of the Holy Spirit, and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which is the reception of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

         Now your work really begins by putting all that you have learned into action.  You must find time to meditate and pray to God.  You try to curb all your tendencies to be pleasing to God.  This is called self-control.  It is at this time that you discover the amount of work that is entailed with a relationship with God.  Do not be disheartened.  God is always supplying you with Actual Graces to help you overcome all your weaknesses.  We are all human and all fall far short of the Glory of God.  This is where a nightly examination of conscience comes in handy.  This is also the perfect time to recite a perfect of contrition and recite the Spiritual Communion prayer.  If the sins are serious, the Sacrament of Penance should be used before receiving physical Holy Communion.  As I always say we are all works in progress.  Enjoy your relationship with Jesus.  It will last for all eternity.

         Until next time, Laus Tibi, Christe.  Deo Gratias.  Praise be to God.  See you in Paradise.