My kids love books. Because we are not a family that spends much of our recreational time in front of screens, we play a lot of games and read a lot of books. One of the types of books that my 7-year-old son enjoys are the WhoIQ books. These simple chapter books that answer the questions “Who or what is this important person/place/thing?” Essentially these books act as a Wikipedia page in book form, garnered to younger audiences. Books brought home have ranged from, “Where is Walt Disney World?” to “Who was Martin Luther King Jr?”
One day my son purchased the book, “Who was Jesus?” Because it was a secular book series, I was a little hesitant about the content. But after a quick scan, I could find nothing misleading so we purchased the book. He read it and enjoyed it. Then his sister, who is 5 years old, decided she wanted to read it as well. After its completion, she in her youthful wisdom pointed out one major flaw in the book that I had missed.
On our drive to school, we were praying the rosary (I believe the sorrowful mysteries) and she was relating something that she read from the book that coincided with what Bishop Barron was giving as a reflection before the decade. It then prompted her to say, “The book should not be called ‘Who was Jesus?’ but it should be called ‘Who is Jesus?’” I was surprised at the simplicity of such a profound correction. My five-year-old daughter was pointing out that Jesus is still alive today, and that’s important.
My daughter gives us all a good reminder: Jesus has been raised up; is alive as He had said (Matt 28:6). While we may often acknowledge that Jesus is risen with our minds, we have the tendency to functionally act as if He is a thing of the past. Jesus is a historical figure, but He also transcends time. In fact, the reasons for His Resurrection, Ascension into Heaven, and institution of His Church are for the purpose of being present to all people. But sometimes we can get caught up in the rituals of the Church and routines of our prayer, and we fail to interact with Jesus as a living person who is speaking and acting right now.
While this can be an innocent mistake, it also can serve as a defense mechanism. Following a set of rules and organized systems can be difficult, especially if it is the moral and liturgical life of the Church. However, it can be easier than being in a relationship. Organized systems can become familiar to us. We can take solace in what is expected. Once it is adopted as part of our life, it can even become comfortable. And this is good. But we can tend to manipulate systems and adjust them to our desires. While it is important to live out liturgy and morality with our personality, we can sometimes take too many liberties in our adjustments of the systems and completely change the system that should be changing us. Or we can go in the complete opposite direction and be so strict with the system that we become its slave. Through pride, we value our own accomplishments in following the system and become robotic in our achievement of them. This can give way to being critical or judgemental of others.
This is why the moral and liturgical systems of the Church are not to be ends unto themselves. They are to lead us to something greater – a relationship with Jesus. More difficult than following a system is being in a relationship with a person. It requires communication, making adjustments, and receiving and giving of ourselves. It is an unexpected life with something new each day. This is what Jesus is calling us to. He is calling us to a life that is alive with Him. He wants to give our life meaning and purpose. He wants to show us how to live. This comes when we encounter him in the Word, receive Him in the sacraments, and participate in His action in the world through His Body the Church. But this only happens when those things are not systems that we have to master or learn, but living experiences that we allow to change us. To be in relationship with Jesus means that there is constant surrender and conversation, listening to His voice, and allowing Him to change our hearts from stony to natural ones (Ezekiel 36:26).
This is not to say that we need to throw out our moral and liturgical systems. In fact, quite the opposite. Jesus is the fulfillment of these systems rather than their abolishment. Yet in order to go beyond these systems that we can manipulate in our pride, we must encounter Jesus as a living person giving us instruction here and now. As my daughter pointed out, Jesus is not a guy who lived in the past that gave us orders to follow. He conquered death to be present to each of us so we can have the freedom to become what we were created for: Men and women in a loving relationship with Him.
