At the beginning of the play, The King and I, the heroine, Anna sings: “Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you. Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me.” She had studied all about Siam before coming there but she found that, when she arrived, the reality on the ground was not what she expected. Knowing people in theory and knowing them in reality were different matters altogether. I wonder if we can sing that song about our relationship with Jesus. “Getting to know you, getting to know all about you. Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me.” For old time-y Catholics like me the language that we use nowadays, “You need to have a personal relationship with Jesus,” is something new. We were good Catholics because we knew the catechism, we went to Mass on Sunday, we gave up things for Lent and rooted for Notre Dame. Nowhere on that list is a personal relationship with Jesus. Oh, we knew about Jesus. The creeds told us stuff about him – born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, and on the third day rose on Easter. But as Anna found out when she went to Siam, knowing about someone is not the same as knowing someone. How do we move from knowing about Jesus to knowing him?
There are two obstacles to overcome if we are to know Jesus. The first, obvious one, is that Jesus does not walk the mean streets of Chicago the way he walked the dusty roads of Galilee. The way we ordinarily get to know someone – converse with them, watch them interact with others, see how they behave – is not available to us. Getting know Jesus is going to take some additional work on our part but the effort is well worth it. Remember, St. Mark and St. Luke and Paul, Silvanus and Timothy did not know Jesus in the flesh yet they came to know him intimately. We too can come to know him despite the years separating us. The second obstacle is less obvious but even more pernicious in keeping us from knowing Jesus. The problem arises because popular culture has created an image of Jesus which does not reflect who he truly is. We’ve fashioned an image of him as a sort of amalgam of St. Francis, Santa Claus and Obi-Wan Kenobi – a sweet man who gives us gifts and provides advice on how to live. Instead of knowing Jesus as he is, we’ve created him as we wish he were. Even the most cursory look at the gospels puts the lie to that image of Jesus. Sweet Santa Clauses don’t develop the kind of hostility and opposition that Jesus generated. The gospel for today says that the Pharisees and the Herodians were plotting together against Jesus. The Pharisees and the Herodians hated each other! But, apparently, their hatred of Jesus was so strong it overcame their mutual aversion. All of which says, if we are going to know Jesus we must meet him as a strong personality who stood for something, who could at the same time attract vast crowds and provoke hostility from those in authority, whose life and actions demanded a response.
How do we do it? How do we come to know Jesus given the centuries divide? The most important step is, of course, prayer. In prayer, Jesus will come to us. Over time, we learn to quiet ourselves enough that in the silence we hear the voice of God. There is one particular style of prayer that helps us in coming to know Jesus – praying with scripture. The method is pretty simple. Go to your prayer place and become still. Then pick a particular passage from Scripture, perhaps the daily reading from the Church but any passage will do. Then read the passage several times, paying particular attention to the details. Put yourself in the scene. What do you see? What do you hear? What smells are in the air? What are people wearing? Interact with the people in the scene. What would you say to Peter or Mary? Notice how people are listening to Jesus. Pay attention to your own feelings. End the prayer by asking Jesus if he has any particular word for you. Sit with that word for a while before saying “amen.” Using your imagination when praying with the scriptures in this way can help to come to know Jesus in all his uniqueness. We come to know him not as a plaster of Paris figurine but as a flesh and blood person who wants to be part of our lives.
How do we overcome the second obstacle and meet Jesus as he is and not as we would like him to be? Jesus himself tells us: whatsoever you do to the least, you do unto me. We come to know Jesus by recognizing him in the face of those who are hurting or in some need. When I was hungry you gave me to eat. When I was thirsty you gave me to drink. When I was sick you visited me. When I was an immigrant, you welcomed me. When I was sad you comforted me. When I was grieving you consoled me. By reaching out in loving service to others, we come to know Jesus in his many disguises as the poor man from Nazareth.
Finally we come to know Jesus by being here together in prayer around the Eucharistic table. Wherever two or more of you are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst, Jesus said. We who gather in the name of Jesus embody his presence in the world. Loving the people that God has woven into our lives enables us to come to know Jesus for he lives in the hearts of each of us. That song I quoted from the King and I ends this way: “Haven’t you noticed Suddenly I’m bright and breezy? Because of all the beautiful and new Things I’m learning about you Day by day.”
