Thursday, 1/4/18 – Spending Time with Jesus

When did you first begin spending time with Jesus? Not going to mass, participating in parish life, learning about Jesus, serving Jesus.  Just spending time with him.

I was a senior in high school.  My mother had had surgery.  She had a reaction to the anesthesia and lay unconscious in the hospital for twenty-eight days.  The doctor kept her alive on glucose and waited, because in 1966 that’s what he knew to do.  I would go to visit her, but it was all totally overwhelming to me. A teacher suggested that I might go sit in the Catholic Church to pray after I had seen mother, since the Catholic Church was near the hospital and open for walk-in prayer time.

I went, wondering if someone would come in and tell me to leave.  In all those afternoons, nobody ever came in.  I had God all to myself.  As a Protestant, I had no knowledge of the True Presence of Christ in the tabernacle.  But I soon knew Jesus was there.  I talked to him.  I sat with him.  Did I know enough to listen to him?  Probably not.  But there was something different, something good about being in that church.

After twenty-eight days my mother’s body began to work again.  In time she fully recovered and lived to be 95.  But a change had happened to me.  I began to yearn to spend more time with Jesus. I didn’t go back to that Catholic Church (now my parish church) until Christmas morning, 1969, right after I had entered into full communion with the Catholic Church while away in school.  In between I attended various churches, as young people often do.  I often sat in a lovely courtyard at the Episcopal Church near campus.  I prayed.  I talked.  I searched and yearned.

Now I know that Jesus was looking for me, calling me to Himself, in all my seeking.  He searched for me and let me think I found him.

When Andrew Spent the Day with Jesus

This memory comes to mind as I read in today’s Gospel of Andrew and Peter’s initial encounter with Jesus.  Andrew, the quiet, but effective evangelist, was a disciple of John the Baptist.  When John saw Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” Andrew followed Jesus.  He spent the day with him.  By four o’clock in the afternoon, he was convinced, “We have found the Messiah.”  He went to get his brother, Simon—soon to be Peter.

What did Jesus talk about that day?  How did Jesus listen to Andrew?  How did a bond between them develop?  When I use imaginative prayer (Ignatian contemplation) and put myself in that scene, I so wish I could have been there.  It was a day of conversation that changed Andrew, Peter, James, and John’s life.  It changed John the Baptist’s life, as he let go of disciples whom he no doubt loved.  It was a day that changed Jesus’ life, too, because at the end of it, he had disciples.

Yet it was just a day of conversation, of spending time with Jesus.

Spending Time with Jesus in Adoration

Last night, at our monthly parish Spiritual Life meeting we reviewed our annual all night New Year’s Eve prayer vigil.  We expose the Blessed Sacrament for the night.  The church, decorated for Christmas, has a exquisite beauty and profound Quiet Presence to it in the night.  A couple of people stay all night to anchor and assure at least two people are always keeping vigil.  A dozen or so stay several hours.  A good number come for an hour or more.  We all spent time with Jesus, just like Andrew did in today’s Gospel.

Many, including me, find ourselves naturally spilling over with faith afterwards.  “Come and see,” we say to family or friend.  “We have found the Messiah.”  Last night Father told of one parishioner who was inspired last year to construct a beautiful model of Bethlehem in her home.  She spent the year building it.  Then  this Christmas she invited people to “come and see.”  It made our local newspaper, and many people have come to see the model and hear the story of Jesus birth.  Many were children who perhaps got a truer picture of Christmas than they have ever had.  Some likely would not have come into our parish church (or any church) to worship.  Yet, they at least encountered the story of Christmas and may well have encountered enough of Jesus to seek him again.

Effective evangelization–all from spending time with Jesus—like Andrew did in today’s Gospel.

Open Churches: Welcoming Those Who Come to Spend Time with Jesus

Last spring I was working in downtown Philadelphia.  I found a church that clearly welcomed anyone and everyone to come spend time with Jesus.  There were multiple masses, and multiple public rosaries and shared Liturgies of the Hours.  People came and went all day.  Many who came in looked like homeless or at least on the margins of life.  Others were in well heeled business dress.  Some were young mothers with a preschooler or two in tow.  All came in to spend time with Jesus. The parish kept someone “on duty” in this downtown place to maintain safety while letting the church be open all day for people to drop by and spend time with Jesus.

I wonder how many lives changed in 2017 because of that parish’s overt hospitality.

Jesus Wants to Spend Time with Everyone

Today’s first reading speaks of sin and its awful effects.  I can tell you from experience, being in a state of sin changes spending time with Jesus—but it doesn’t stop the communication.  Jesus doesn’t send you away.  He doesn’t stop talking to you—though sometimes you can sense a wall.

In those times it is very important to pour out your heart—even if your heart is angry, disturbed, confused, or alienated from God.

Because Jesus hears you and responds to your honest heart, even if you are steeped in sin.  You do have to be honest and you do have to be the one to come to him.  Jesus knocks at your door, but then he waits for you to open it.

Time Spent that Changes Things

You know the story of what happens after Andrew spent the day with Jesus.  You know about curing Peter’s mother-in-law, choosing both Andrew and Peter to be disciples.  You know about Andrew identifying the boy with five loaves and two fish from which Jesus fed the 5000. You know the story of the Passion when they ran away scared.  You may or may not know that the Eastern Church credits Andrew with taking Christianity all through the Greek world.

Spending time with Jesus changes lives.  When is the next time you can spend time with Jesus?  No, you don’t have to go in church with the Blessed Sacrament.  Jesus can spend time with you anywhere.  But there is something wonderful about taking even a whole day to sit in church to spend time with Jesus.  What will you say to Jesus?  What will he say to you?  How will a bond form?

Prayer:

 

Thank you, Lord, for always being where I can find You.  You are always in a Catholic Church, close to the red lamp with candle burning, in the tabernacle.  Sometimes you are on the altar, ready for us to spend time together.  Call me, Lord, call me to you.

About the Author

Mary Ortwein lives in Frankfort, Kentucky in the US. A convert to Catholicism in 1969, Mary had a deeper conversion in 2010. She earned a theology degree from St. Meinrad School of Theology in 2015. Now an Oblate of St. Meinrad, Mary takes as her model Anna, who met the Holy Family in the temple at the Presentation. Like Anna, Mary spends time praying, working in church settings, and enjoying the people she meets. Though formally retired, Mary continues to work part-time as a marriage and family therapist and therapy supervisor. A grandmother and widow, she divides the rest of her time between facilitating small faith-sharing groups, writing, and being with family and friends. Earlier in her life, Mary worked avidly in the pro-life movement. In recent years that has taken the form of Eucharistic ministry to Carebound and educating about end-of-life matters. Now, as Respect for Human Life returns to center stage, she seeks to find ways to communicate God's love and Lordship for all--from the moment of conception through the moment we appear before Jesus when life ends.

Author Archive Page

11 Comments

  1. Beautiful ! I just said my rosary after Mass in front of the Blessed Sacrament! What a gift! Thank you Mary and Jesus! So much need for prayer today!

  2. Am a Priest from Tanzania ,Africa!I really enjoyed your reflection on today’s readings.May God bless you Mary( a.k.a ANNA) for a good reflection!?

  3. Thank you so much Mary. Last year, I made up my mind to spend at least an hour with Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament twice a week. It is always a peaceful moment with Him. I keep praying for the grace to silence my soul to hear His voice even more clearly. May God continue to keep the writers of these daily reflections in the hollow of His hands.

  4. Thanks Mary for this very wonderful reflection.

    God bless you and your family as you continue to evangelize the word of God through your daily reflections in this new year. May our Lord Jesus Christ continue giving you the wisdom your require.

    Happy New Year

  5. I joined our parish ministry of perpetual adoration almost a year ago. I don’t ask for anything. I just sit quietly. After a while I say the rosary. It has not changed me that I can see, but that hour is very peaceful and quick.

  6. Thank you, Mary. Spending time with Jesus is never time wasted. We may not see the difference in ourselves, but Father John Riccardo said something that has stuck with me. He said it’s like sitting in the sun for an hour every week. Over time our skin will change almost imperceptibly so that we hardly notice. Sitting with Jesus is like that, only the changes happen on the inside. It changes us over time.

  7. Thank you.
    I find all commentaries on this site useful, but your words today have touched my heart more than usual.
    May God bless you for the great work you do for others.

  8. Mary, your reflection today inspired me. My biggest struggle and stumbling block is my inability to empty my mind to hear the words of Jesus. But I continue to make the effort and he continues to leave me in the direction he wants me to go. I can tell it’s him because it wouldn’t have been a direction I would have chosen. Thank you for your reflections. Louise / New York City

  9. Thank you for your reflections. You inspire us. I thank God for your work and that of the other authors as well.

  10. Thank you so much for your reflection, Mary! It moved me to tears. I need to spend more time with Jesus. I know I pray to God every night, but I don’t really think I’m close to Jesus. I have put on my calendar to spend time in Adoration this coming Monday. And I will try to do that at least once a week. Thanks again, Mary, for your words of wisdom. God has certainly blessed you with the ability to touch people’s hearts with your writing.

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