Beacon Publishing, 2015
As Catholics, we often think that we know Jesus. After all,
most of us have been hearing the stories of his life since we were small
children. They are part of who we are, and that is good. But sometimes, we can
feel too familiar with the stories and we start to tune them out because we
have heard them over and over again. What new thing could we possibly learn?
Yet, knowing about a person doesn’t mean that we actually
know them. Matthew Kelly of DynamicCatholic.com invites us to actually know
Jesus in his latest book, “Rediscover Jesus: An Invitation.” He invites us to
have a dynamic relationship with Jesus – one that would change our lives in
more ways than we could ever imagine. “The more we discover who Jesus truly is,
the more we will place him at the center of our lives. . . . The more we place
Jesus at the center of our lives, the more life begins to make sense.
Kelly challenges us to consider our answers to two important
Jesus questions: Who do you say that Jesus is? and Who does Jesus say that you
are? He also examines the Great Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. . . .You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) This commandment seems
straightforward and simple, but it “may also be one of the hardest aspects of
the Christian faith to live. . . until we learn to love ourselves as God wants
us to, our ability to love others will be limited and deformed.” This type of
self-love is not full of pride and self-interest. Rather, it is one that is
rooted in humility.
Living as Jesus calls us to means living a radical
generosity, practicing forgiveness, and loving others with an agape love. We
also need to pray in order to have a meaningful relationship with God. Kelly explores
all of these aspects of Christian life, as well as the importance of
self-denial, an idea that is not popular in the world today. “Each time you
deny yourself is a spiritual exercise, a spiritual push-up that strengthens the
soul. This allows the soul to increasingly respond to grace and choose what is
good, true, noble, and just in every situation.” Kelly encourages us to work to close the gap
between “the person we are and the person he created us to be.”
“Rediscover Jesus” is intended for all Christians. There is
no discussion of the Mass or any of the sacraments. The book is weaker for it.
Nevertheless, Kelly has a great deal of thought-provoking material in these
pages. It serves as either a good introduction to the person and call of Jesus
or as an important wake-up call for those of us who have been just going
through the motions. No matter where we fall on the spiritual spectrum, we all
have room for improvement.
In addition, Dynamic Catholic is offering a “Best Lent Ever”
program for this upcoming Lent which will feature daily two-minute videos focusing
on the topics covered in “Rediscover Jesus.” Find out more at http://dynamiccatholic.com/bestlentever/.
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