JESUS ~ THE GREAT OBSTACLE?

During my year of novitiate we received weekly lectures not only on St. Anthony Mary Claret, the founder of our Claretian Congregation, but also on the Church and many other topics, including one on the image of Jesus. Our discussion leader on this last topic, Padre Teófilo, told us that most of us have a false and very romantic image of Jesus ~ tall, good-looking, more European than Middle-Eastern, etc. He asked us to reflect upon, and to write a short paper on, who Jesus was for us.

My response surprised us both. I said that Jesus was many things for me, including savior, teacher, role model, but most of all he was an obstacle…that because my focus was so much on him, the human/divine person reflected in the gospels, he seemed to get in the way of my connecting directly with God…of discovering God with me…within me…as he himself had.

There is a story of an explorer who ventured to a far-off land, discovering a beauty and a bounty never before imagined. Upon returning to his native land, he shared the good news and all were excited about this new-found paradise. They begged him to draw them a map of how to get there. He hesitated at first, but after much persistence he drew the map, and the path to get there, complete with treacherous mountain passes and raging rivers that needed to be crossed, notable sign posts to guide the traveler, etc.

It was not long before everyone studied the map and would sit at table or gather in the town square to discuss it. Many made personal copies and memorized every detail possible. They knew the map so well as if they themselves had made the journey and drawn it. The problem was that no one bothered to seek the paradise itself; they remained content in simply knowing how to get there.

How often do we study the Bible, and can perhaps cite chapter and verse of every book, know every word that Jesus spoke, and yet fail to connect with the Holy Mystery with us…within us?

In order for Jesus to most fully discover and reveal God’s indwelling Spirit in him, John the Baptist had to step aside. Perhaps in order for us to most fully discover the God-seed in us, Jesus, too, has to be taken from our midst (i.e. the ascension), so that we might focus more on the Holy Spirit within us than on the Holy Presence in Jesus.

This may seem blasphemous for some to somehow compare ourselves to Jesus, the Son of God. Of course, it is worth remembering that this is what got Jesus crucified, for the faith of the day 2,000 years ago, the faith that had stood for more than a millennium, said, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord God, the Lord is One.” How could God be one if Jesus was also God? Jesus was misunderstood…feared…and ultimately blindly executed. Perhaps our faith, or at least our attempt to understand this Holy Mystery with some sense of human logic, can often blind us to the truth of our being as well.

To truly discover paradise we must make the journey…not by land, sea, or air, from here to there…but within ourselves. To reach our goal on this holy quest perhaps it might be helpful to reflect upon the following questions: Why did Jesus call us brothers and sisters? What does it mean to call God “our Father”? Who is Jesus for us? Who are we? Who would Jesus say that we are?