Getting to Know Jesus: 9 Ways to Grow Closer to our Lord and Savior
If you want to become holy, be a saint, remain steadfast in your Christian faith, you’ve got to get to know Jesus. I struggled with this early on in my conversion. I felt like I did not know Jesus, that He did not want to know me (why would He want to know lowly ol’ me?) and I was, in fact, intimated by him. I pictured Jesus overthrowing the money-changers’ tables and some of the harsher statements he made. So I was distant.
But soon I realized that if I was going to be a saint — or strive to be — I’d better get to know Jesus!
Here are 10 ways I found that helped me draw closer and truly develop a personal relationship with Jesus, something I believe is crucial to true Christian conversion:
- Receive Jesus – Tops on the list of ways to grow closer to Jesus has to be receiving him in the form of the Eucharist. This is a special gift enjoyed by Catholics, whose priests transform ordinary bread and wine into the living God by repeating Jesus’ words at the last supper. When we receive Jesus, we meet Him in the flesh and we literally carry Him with us out into the world. Receive Jesus as often as you can!
- Read the Gospels over and over – This tip I attribute to author Matthew Kelly, but it’s a key one. A wonderful way to get to know Jesus better is to read about him and the main place we can do that is through the Gospels. Read them over and over, a little each day, letting Jesus’ words and actions sink in. Kelly, in his book Rediscover Jesus, recommends imagining yourself as different people in the stories to place yourself in the context of what is happening.
- Spend time in adoration – In addition to receiving the Eucharist, we can also be in Jesus’ presence by simply being in the presence of the Eucharist. Try to visit your church’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel (where you can always find Jesus in the Eucharist identified by the red candle burning outside the door) or during Adoration where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed versus locked away. Read, pray, write or just sit in the quiet presence of Jesus. Many experience vocational callings and other insights during adoration.
- Encounter Him in Reconciliation – Did you know when you go to Reconciliation, you are in the presence of Jesus? Jesus is present in the priest, no matter which priest you see. In Reconciliation, he pours out his mercy upon us, forgiving our sins and giving us graces to help us from sinning again and to grow in holiness. Other than the Eucharist, it’s one of the few places you can encounter Jesus. Go and go often!
- Choose a stage of Jesus’ life you can relate to – If you’re like me and struggled feeling close to the Jesus in the Gospels, consider Jesus at a more vulnerable time of life. St. Therese of Liseiux developed a devotion to the infant Jesus. Can you picture Jesus as a tiny baby, cooing in his mother’s arms, nestled close to Mary’s heart? Start there. Talk to the Baby Jesus or Jesus as a youth, working with his father as a carpenter.
- Talk to Jesus – How can you really get to know anyone without talking to them regularly? You can read about them, but is that the same as really knowing them? Develop the HABIT of talking to Jesus all day long. Thank Him for the beautiful day, the blue skies and birds singing — for every good thing that happens during your day. Ask for help when you have a decision to make — big or small. Tell Him when you are frustrated, stressed, happy or joyful. He wants you to talk to Him!
- Read Rediscover Jesus – Author Matthew Kelly of Dynamic Catholic has written a new book with the aim of helping Christians — and all people — develop a personal relationship with Jesus. He does a wonderful job of considering Jesus’ teachings and the example He left us to help us understand how we can live as He desired in the context of our modern society.
- Pray the Rosary – Of course, we associate the rosary with Mary, because she’s the one who gave us the prayer, asked us to pray it and it’s filled with Hail Marys. But the Rosary is really about Jesus. If you pray the rosary daily — or as often as you can — you will be meditating day in and day out on the life of Jesus. Each day is a different set of “mysteries” or events in Jesus’ life to meditate upon as you say the prayers of the rosary. You’ll find new insights pour in as you contemplate these events over and over every time you pray the rosary.
- Read The Diary of St. Faustina and the Flame of Love (free copy here) – These two books, which are approved by the Catholic Church as communications of Jesus, present a more personal voice of Jesus and can help you relate better to Him. Two passages I bring to mind often while looking at the Cross are His request that Elizabeth Kindelmann call him “my most adorable Jesus” and his request that she imagine herself “nestled close to his merciful heart.” I can certainly picture myself there.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of how to get to know Jesus! Please share what has worked for you and what a difference it has made in your life to have a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.
Hi. I’m going through RICA. Though I’ve always believed in Jesus and i guess i could say my heart has always leaned toward the Catholic faith. I’ve attended mass every sunday since Pentecost. Do you have any tips on how to not feel like a complete fraud during mass? I enter the doors with an open mind and heart. Yet during mass i feel like because I’m learning as i go and can’t receive The Eucharist yet i feel like a fraud. I pray….Probably not a much as i should but i pray. Alot of your tips mentioned in the post i do.
Hi Betty, Thanks for your comment & I hope I can offer some helpful insight. So I think you’re saying you feel like a fraud because you can’t receive the Eucharist yet? I was ready to join the church a full year and a half before I was able to join, so I spent many a mass not receiving as well. I always just went up to receive a blessing from the priest and prayed for the day that I would be able to receive. God’s time is not our time and it seems he has us wait a while before certain things happen (I always think of St. Monica praying for 30 years for the conversion of St. Augustine!). Before you know it, Easter will be here and it will be your turn and you can imagine how much you will enjoy that moment!
Now, I always had issues with mass feeling uncomfortable because it was so unfamiliar to me. It made me feel like an outsider since I didn’t know what was going on. When I determined I wanted to head down this path, I promised myself I would put my whole self into the mass, doing as much as I could without being Catholic (which is pretty much everything except receiving the Eucharist), learning everything to say, kneeling, making the sign of the cross and exploring the meaning of everything on my own. That made a huge difference and it wasn’t long before I no longer felt like an outsider.
Let me know if that helps and if you have any other questions or concerns where I could share my experience. Congrats on going through RCIA joining the Church!!
Thanks for responding. Yes this is helpful. I participate fully each mass with the exception of receiving Eucharist. I’ve learned alot of the songs and responses so i use the book less. I could try going up to receive a blessing. To see if that helps. Part of me wanted to save the walk up to the alter for the first time i received the Eucharist. If that makes sense. Make it more special more meaningful symbolically. Maybe i am just making it more difficult in my mind than it should be. Like you i was ready to join and become Catholic way before i started RCIA. thank you for your help.
I definitely would suggest going up to receive a blessing if it’s the tradition in your parish (it is in mine; just cross your arms over your heart). That helps you feel more a part of things since you’re joining with everyone who is going up rather than sitting back alone in the pew. I also look at it as I might as well accumulate as many blessings as I can ;-); it certainly can’t hurt! Plus, by going up perhaps you are stating to God that you are ready to receive Him and that you desire to receive Him when it is His will. I’m sure that would be pleasing to God!
Great list! I am really looking forward to reading Matthew Kelly’s “Rediscover Jesus”! I have heard so much about it.
Thanks! I highly recommend Rediscover Jesus – some real gems in there!
A few excerpts from The Poem of the Man-God (Maria Valtorta):
About ten years ago, over the course of about 6 months, I read all five volumes of “The Poem of the Man-God”. Since then, I have re-read certain parts a number of times. I cannot even begin to explain the spiritual impact that this work made upon me. What an extraordinary grace it was to have read them! One is literally “transported” to the time of Jesus, walking along with Him and the apostles through the roads and towns of Israel. Not only does one get to know Jesus in a most intimate way, but also one gets to know and see the personality of each Apostle, along with some of the other disciples. And then, there is our Blessed Mother and St Joseph! What an extraordinary grace it is to get to know them! And then also Mary Magdelene, Lazarus, Martha and the other women disciples, the shepherds…one can go on and on! But suffice it to say, The Poem of the Man-God is a most extraordinary work. Of course, it is not intended to supplant or replace the Holy Scriptures, but it does supplement them in a most wonderful way.
And so, here are a few excerpts of “The Poem of the Man-God” to give an idea of the spiritual treasure of this work:
Cure of a paralytic child
[Jesus has just finished speaking to a crowd] “….The crowd that had gathered utters cries of joy and applause for the Messiah. Then they become quiet and open out to let pass a mother, who is carrying in her arms a paralytic child, child, about ten years old. At the foot of the staircase, she holds him out, as if she were offering him to Jesus.
«She is one of my servants. Her boy last year fell from the terrace and broke his back. He will lie on his back all his life» explains the landlord.
«She has been hoping in You all these months … » adds the landlady.
«Tell her to come to Me.»
But the poor woman is so excited, that she seems to be paralyzed.
She trembles all over and trips on her long dress while climbing up the high steps with her son in her arms.
Mary, compassionate, stands up and goes down to meet her. «Come. Do not be afraid. My Son loves you. Give Me your child. It will be easier for you to climb up. Come, My daughter. I am a Mother, too» and She takes the child, smiling kindly at him, and then goes up with Her piteous load weighing on Her arms. The boy’s mother follows Her crying.
Mary is now before Jesus. She kneels down and says: «Son! For the sake of this mother!» Nothing else.
Jesus does not .even ask the usual question: «What do you want Me to do for you? Do you believe that I can do it?» No. Today He smiles and says: «Woman, come here.»
The woman goes beside Mary. Jesus lays His hand on her head and says only: «Be happy», and He has not yet finished saying the words, when the boy, who so far had been lying heavily on Mary’s arms, with his legs hanging loose, sits up all of a sudden and with a cry of joy: «Mummy!», he runs to take refuge in his mother’s lap.
The shouts of hosanna seem to be penetrating the sky now all red at sunset.
The woman, clasping her son to heart, does not know what to say and she asks: «What must I do to tell You that I am so grateful?» And Jesus, caressing her once again: «You must be good and love God and your neighbour and bring your son up in this love.» But the woman is not yet content. She would like to … she would like to … and at last she asks: «A kiss of Yours and of Your Mother’s to my child.»
Jesus bends down and kisses him and Mary does likewise. And while the woman is going away happy, surrounded by cheering friends, Jesus explains to the landlord: «Nothing else was needed. He was in My Mother’s arms. Even without any word I would have cured him, because She is happy when She can relieve distress and I want to make Her happy.»
And Jesus and Mary exchange one of those glances that only one who has seen them can understand, so deeply meaningful are they.”
Maria Valtorta
Cure of a blind man at Capernaum
The poor man is coming forward between James and John. He is holding a walking stick in his hand, but is not using it at present. He walks better, supported by the two men. «Here, man, the Master is in front of you.»
The blind man kneels down: «My Lord! Have mercy on me!
«Do you want to see? Stand up. How long have you been blind?
The four apostles gather round the other two.
«Seven years, Lord. Before, when I could see well, I worked. I was a blacksmith at Caesarea on Sea. I was doing well. The harbour, the good trading, they always needed me for one job or another.
But while striking a piece of iron to make an anchor, and You can imagine how red hot it was to be pliable, a splinter came off it, and burnt my eye. My eyes were already sore because of the heat of the forge. I lost the wounded eye, and also the other one became blind after three months. I have finished all my savings, and now I live on charity … »
«Are you alone?»
«I am married with three little children … I have not even seen the face of one of them … and I have an old mother. And yet she and my wife earn a little bread, and with what they earn and the alms! take home, we manage not to starve. If I were cured! … I would go back to work. All I ask for is to be able to work like a good Israelite and thus feed those I love.»
«And you came to Me? Who told you?»
«A leper who was cured by You at the foot of Mount Tabor, when You were coming back to the lake after that beautiful speech of Yours.»
«What did he tell you?»
«That You can do everything. That You are the health of bodies and of souls. That You are a light for souls and bodies, because You are the Light of God. He, although a leper, had dared to mingle with the crowd, at the risk of being stoned, all enveloped in his mantle, because he had seen You passing by on the way to the mountain, and Your face had kindled hope in his heart. He said to me: “I saw something in that face that whispered to me: ‘There is health there. Go!’ And I went. Then he repeated Your speech to me and he told me that You cured him, touching him with Your hand, without any disgust. He was coming back from the priest after his purification. I knew him. I had done some work for him when he had a store at Caesarea. I came, asking for You in every town and village. Now I have found You! … Have mercy on me!»
«Come. The light is still too bright for one coming out of darkness»
«Are you going to cure me, then?»
Jesus takes him to Peter’s house, in the dim light of the kitchen garden, he places him in front of Himself, in such a position that his cured eyes may not see, as first sight, the lake still sparkling with light. The man looks like a very docile child, he obeys without asking questions.
«Father! Your Light to this son of Yours!» Jesus has stretched His hands over the head of the kneeling man. He remains in that attitude for a moment. He then moistens the tips of His fingers with saliva and with His right hand He touches lightly the open, but lifeless eyes.
A moment. Then the man blinks, rubs his eyelids as if he were awakening from sleep, and his eyes were dimmed.
«What do you see?»
«Oh!. .. oh! … oh!. .. Eternal God! I think … I think … oh! that I can see … I see Your mantle … it’s red, isn’t it? And a white hand … and a woollen belt… oh! Good Jesus … I can see better and better, the more I get used to seeing … There is the grass of the earth … and that is certainly a well … and there is a vine … »
«Stand up, My friend.»
The man who is crying and laughing, stands up, and after a moment’s hesitation between respect and desire, he lifts his face and meets Jesus’ eyes: Jesus is smiling full of merciful love. It must be beautiful to recover your sight and see that face as the first thing! The man gives a scream and stretches his arms. It is an instinctive action. But he controls himself.
But Jesus opens His arms and draws to Himself the man who is much lower than He. «Go home, now, and be happy and just. Go with My peace.»
«Master, Master! Lord! Jesus! Holy! Blessed! The light… I see … I see everything! … There is the blue lake, the clear sky, the setting sun, and then the horns of the waxing moon … But it is in Your eyes that I see the most beautiful and clear blue, and in You I see the beauty of the most real sun, and the pure light of the blessed moon. You are the Star of those who suffer, the Light of the blind, the living, active Mercy!»
«I am the Light of souls. Be a son of the Light.»
«Yes, Jesus, always. Every time I close my re-born eyes, I will renew my oath. May You and the Most High be blessed.»
«Blessed be the Most High Father! Go!»
And the man goes away, happy, sure of himself, while Jesus and His dumbfounded apostles get into two boats and begin their navigation manoeuvres.
And the vision ends. – See more at: http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/11/maria-valtorta-and-poem-of-man-god.html#sthash.tkGYmhbJ.dpuf
Oh, that is so wonderful! I have not heard of that. The part where Jesus is talking to Mary brought me to tears. Thank you for sharing, Eva! I look forward to reading the rest.
“Jesus Calling” is a claim by a woman that has not been approved by The Church! This is for Catholics to avoid!!!!! Her claim is to contemporaneous dictation of words directly from God. She also tried this technique because she didn’t believe that The Bible was enough and wanted and extraordinary experience going into it, as she had believed occurred in another prior book called “God Calling;” also not approved. AVOID – no matter what parish in error is carrying the books.
Hi Theresa, thanks for your comments. I understand your concern, but to my knowledge the church does not ban any books. I have read this book cover to cover and find no problems with any of the content. I DO NOT intend to say this is relevation from God or God’s words; certainly, it is not and that would have to be Church-approved. But it is written as though Jesus was talking to you (not that He is really; it’s just a literary device) and is, in my opinion, a wonderful tool to draw people closer to Jesus. I know I struggled with developing a relationship to Jesus and this helps us feel more personally connected. Believe me, I would not share this with my kids if I thought there was anything that went against Church teaching. But certainly we should always be knowledgeable of Church teaching and understand, whatever we are reading, what is and is not correct. Thank you and may God bless you. Lyn
Regarding the writer’s recommendation of the book “Jesus Calling.” This is a Theological error; there is NO NEW REVELATION AND HER PRIVATE EXPERIENCES ARE NOT CHURCH APPROVED. If you still want to leave my responses “waiting for moderation” than just say that you are not accepting correction from Catholic Doctrine. Respectfully Concerned.
Please research the serious problems with this book “Jesus Calling”. It is far better to read the Saints, and the writings of the Church Fathers and approved Catholic theologians. Jesus Calling was inspired by 2 anonymous authors who used the dangerous occultic practice of Automatic writing. It is far to easy for the devil to pervert scripture and take you away from God.
Here are two resources to help you on the subject:
https://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=16470
And on the inspiration given by the author of Jesus Calling,:
https://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=75
Amen. I have read several critiques about Jesus Calling and Sarah Young and agree that it is not supportive of our Catholic faith. I did read Jesus Calling, cover to cover, and did not see any error, until I read the reviews of this book, including one on the Women of Grace website. Do the research yourself, and pray for discernment. God’s Truth is found in many other sources, namely the Bible, writings from our Saints, and books that have the Imprimatur stamped on the title page. May I recommend an alternative? Try reading My Daily Bread. You can find it on Amazon. Keep praying for the Truth, and keep your eyes on the Lord!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts in such a kind and positive way! If only everyone could dialogue so wonderfully ! 🙂
WANT TO GROW CLOSER TO THE LORD JESUS.HE WANTS UA TO ABIDE WITH HIM DAYLY.OUR LORD JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS.WHAT AGREAT GOD WE HAVE.MY WIFE IS WIH JESUS AT THIS VERRY MOMENT.WE WERE MARRIED FOR 70 PLUS WONDERFULL YEARS.