Do Catholics have a personal relationship with Jesus?

A personal relationship with Jesus and the Catholic Church

Has anyone ever asked if you have a personal relationship with Jesus?

I'm sure you have come across this. Maybe you have asked that question to someone yourself. Usually when a Christian asks this question they want to know if you believe in Jesus or not. But I think, what they really mean is “do you believe in Jesus or religion?"

They are operating under the assumption that if you're religious you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. The person asking this question probably doesn't believe Catholics can be saved, or at least that they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. I will agree that belief in Christ is the starting point but I don't think belief alone is enough to have a "personal relationship" with Him.

In The Catholic Church that question means something very different. In Catholicism this relationship is something much more. More than what a protestant means by a personal relationship with Jesus!

In the Church this question is so beautiful and substantial it's a shame too many don’t believe. Is a relationship with Christ the opposite of living a religious life? And what do I mean by “much more.” I pray that you will have a better understanding after you read this. As human beings we long for personal relationships with others. That is how we build connections, and form families. But what does it mean to have a personal relationship with someone? It means that you want to know everything about them and take the time to get to know them better. It also means that you spend a lot of time with that person. After all you can't have a personal relationship with someone if you never take the time to be with them.

The personal relationship Christ wants with us is rooted in His Teachings and everything He was born to accomplish. The apostles had a personal relationship with Christ. They spent three years time close to Him, listening to His teachings and receiving His instruction. He loved them and even passed down His authority to them.

Certainly Jesus loves us too. There is no limit to how much God can love us. In Matthew 12, Jesus tells us that those who do the will of God, are a part of His very own family. But He chose the twelve out of so many to be His Apostles and to carry out His mission here on earth.

I know that some of you reading this won't agree with some of what I'm saying here. Those who ask the question, "are you saved?" believe that belief in Jesus is all that matters. And anything else even remotely resembling religion, namely the Catholic Church, is met with distain.

I believe this is largely due to the false understandings about what the Catholic Church is all about. There are a lot of misunderstanding about Church teaching among Christians. I know you don't want to admit that but it's true. Sure everyone thinks they're right. But a careful read of scripture and a decent understanding of Christian history will tell you otherwise.

Quite frankly, Jesus wants us to be religious about Him. Before you scoff and click out of this page keep reading. He wants us to bind our life to His through obedience to God, and love! He wants our life to imitate His life of extreme virtue, faith, hope, love, prayer, and sacrifice through suffering in His name. But, don’t take my word for it. Here are the words of Christ who is The Word Himself.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) Right away Jesus is establishing how He fits into our lives. He is our only way to salvation, The only Truth that matters in our lives and The Life that we have in side of us, as well as the life that He wants us to lead!

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15) Jesus himself tells us that our relationship with Him is directly tied to our love for Him and we show our love through action. It is not enough to say "I love you." We must demonstrate our love through our actions. This theme is continued further...

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23) Our active love is not only tied to our relationship with Jesus, but with His Father also!

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matt 23:40) In this verse Jesus is touching on a truth that our relationship with Him is linked to how we treat others. And, not just the strong, or the well adjusted in our society, but the "least" of us. Those who are viewed as weak, small, seemingly insignificant and marginalized in our society.

"So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17) This is why Jesus reminds us that, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21) 

Jesus follows this with a reminder that not only does faith alone not save us, but neither does works alone. "On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’(Matthew 7: 22-23)

Please Note: The Catholic Church has never and does not ever teach a works alone salvation like many Christians mistakenly believe. I know this is one of those areas of misconception but I will leave that for another post. Just know that Jesus did not teach works alone salvation and neither does His Church. For that matter Jesus never taught faith alone salvation either as some Christians believe.  

A personal relationship that is fruitful requires both belief and a faith that is active in good works towards others. Think of your relationship with your most loved, kindest friend. What kind of a relationship will you foster if you never spend time with them, support each others good, or confide in each other? 

Is it enough to simple know of their existence? Is it enough to simply believe in them but never spend time with them or be there to support their good?  No relationship would last under those conditions. The friendship would dissolve resulting in you both going your separate ways. Now if that is true for human relationships how much more for Jesus Christ? Certainly He classifies as your most loved and kindest friend. 

Jesus assures us that our actions, especially towards others are directly linked to having a good relationship with Him. Not only that a good relationship is built on trust, and faith. Our relationship with Christ is not the exception! Not only does Jesus want our loving obedience to God's Will, and to His commandments. He wants us to trust in Him, living a life of faith dedicated to The Will of God and worship to God.

Whether you want to acknowledge it or not Jesus built a Church on Peter His chief Apostle. This Church developed just like anything else does, it had to grow from the tiny mustard seed, to the Universally known Church that we see today. It is the parable of the mustard see in Matthew 13:31. Having a perfected relationship with Christ is directly related to our relationship with His Church. I hope the next few verses can shed some light on that.

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt 16:18-19)

Peter was given authority over Christ's Church on earth. The theology around this verse is so beautiful and extent that I won't cover it here in this article. But I urge you through faith and trust in Christ look into it. For more information I suggest you read this excellent article titled Peter's Authority.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20)

The thing is Jesus commanded that His disciples go out and baptize in the name of The Trinity. This is the first step to cultivating a relationship with Christ through His Sacraments. Keep in mind this is what He commanded to be done after they went out from the upper room. Baptism enrolls us into a familial relationship with Jesus as His own adopted siblings. It is the first step in the fullness of faith and relationship with Christ!

"Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission." (CCC Article 1 The Sacrament of Baptism section 1213)

Not only is baptism essential to our relationship with Christ, it wipes away our sin. This purification allows us to become more like Christ, who was like us in every way but sin. (Hebrews 4:15) You can click that link for more information about baptism in scripture.

Suffering with Christ is another way that we build on our relationship with Him. I know that suffering isn't a huge preach able topic but it is tied to our relationship with Jesus Christ. He suffered for us on the cross to redeem humanities broken relationship with His Father, our God. And too so that our suffering would not be in vain! He gives our suffering meaning and we are not alone in it.

We read in Romans, "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.' (Romans 8:15-17)

In this life we will not escape suffering. As a Christians we are not immune to suffering and in many ways guaranteed suffering. We can either suffer alone in vain, or we can suffer with Christ. We do this by offering up our suffering to our Lord as a prayer and by uniting our suffering with His on The Cross.

Do you see how Jesus wants to be apart of every bit of our life?

He infuses Himself to every part of our life here on earth as long as we allow it to happen. We must open the door which is Christ. Our Lord supplies all the necessities but we must choose Him and take action.

So, what do I mean by Catholicism offering us a relationship with Christ that is much more than what protestants can offer?

We are called to The ultimate personal relationship with Christ!

One that is physical as well as spiritual. A relationship where we can Truly bind our life to His, not only through love, and action, but through our physical bodies! We are called to a relationship with Christ that is more like a marriage than a friendship.

This is why salvation is talked about as being invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Rev 19:6-9) I could do a whole other article on just this topic alone. But let's continue in this one. Only the true family of Christ will be invited to the wedding.

Remember wheat He said about who belongs to His true family? "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt 12:50)

At this point you are probably saying, "oh boy I knew these Catholics were weird!" What is she saying about being in a marital relationship with Christ? But I'm not talking about a sexual bond between a man and a women in Holy Matrimony. That is a whole other Sacrament folks!

The close personal relationship I am talking about and that The Church offers is found in The Sacrament of The Eucharist. The type of relationship where Christ gives, His whole self to us, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity!

Yes He sacrificed Himself for us once and for all over 2,000 years ago. He is The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But it goes much deeper than that. He offers us everything that He has and wants to bind His life to ours. As the sacrificial Lamb of God we are to partake of His flesh and Blood. FYI; There is a whole theology behind this and it is tied to the Old Testament.

If you think about it.

Have we ever really lived if not with Christ?

But don't take my word for it....

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:52-58)

Jesus is our way, and the only way to holiness. The Truth that we must bind our life to and LIFE itself! He wants to offer us that life not just at the end through the Resurrection, and not just spiritually through believing in Him. He wants an intimate marital type relationship where we become one with Him.

Through The Sacrament of The Eucharist our physical body consumes His body, blood, soul and divinity! Like I said Jesus is willing and is offering us everything He has! This is the "much more" I'm talking about and is very different from the relationship with Jesus that protestants think about.

To them a relationship with Christ is merely spiritual with no real physical link to our Lord. But, Jesus is calling us to a relationship that is rooted in how we treat others including ourselves here on earth, right now. This relationship is physically tied to Christ through the sacraments like baptism and The Eucharist.

A relationship where we actually have to invest ourselves in Him and become so closely bonded to Christ that we are imitators of Him in this world. A relationship where we become like what we eat. God knows this world needs Jesus badly! More specifically this world needs each and every one of us to be Christ like!

"The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus. What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh "given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit," preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum." (CCC VI. The Paschal Banquet section 1391-1392)

In Conclusion

There is so much more that I could say about this. I hope this has helped you to understand that yes faithful Catholics do have a personal relationship with Christ. Probably more than you ever thought. This is a personal relationship that is more than spiritual but a physical bond. I's all there is scripture for those open to it.

What do you think?

My prayer is that souls can come to Christ and believe in Him. I also pray that you will recognize Him in the breaking of the bread just like His disciples did on the road to Emmaus. Jesus help us to recognize you in the breaking of The Bread!

Final thoughts

You wouldn't have a relationship with someone who didn’t love you, respect you, or trust you. Sure you may still love that person but you wouldn't want a close personal relationship with them.

Jesus is no different. Even though He desires more than anything to have this ultimate personal relationship with each of us. He will not force it on us. He will not make us do what is necessary to have that relationship with Him. He can send us His Grace so that we can begin to move closer to Him. But we have to choose that Grace and be open to it. We must always pray for that Grace to know Him better and love Him better.

Jesus wants us to be religious about Him!

It's through His Church that He established so long ago that we have access to sanctifying Grace found in The sacraments like baptism and The Eucharist. Ultimately He doesn't just want a relationship like any other human friendship that you have. He wants us to be just like Him and part of His own personal family.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." (2 Peter 1:3-4)

by Joanne Utke

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

If you would like to know more about The Eucharist in the Bible check out my bible study made with you in mind.

Stay tuned for more articles on this blog and as always feel free to go to the Welcome and ask any specific questions you like. I will answer you in a post.

Also please pay attention to the links on this page for further research.