The heart of Christianity is not a rule of law or a code of behaviour. It is a Person whose love we receive and whose life we seek to imitate. Christianity is centred on a Person. At its core the Christian life is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This is message of the Gospel. It is also reflected in the lives of the saints.
Perhaps one of the best descriptions of what Christianity is essentially about is to be found in the Gospel of John. In Chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus describes himself as “the way, the truth and the life.” This was obviously how John and his community of disciples experienced Jesus. For them Jesus was their way, their truth and their life. He was a real living person in their lives, a person who meant everything to them.
Among the saints whose spirituality is built around a relationship with the person of Jesus, three Carmelites are worth mentioning. For Teresa of Avila, Jesus was a friend. Indeed he was her best friend, her friend par excellence. This is why Teresa described prayer as an intimate sharing between friends. It is taking time frequently to be alone with the one whom we know loves us. Therese of Lisieux, popularly known as the Little Flower, also experienced Jesus as her friend. Speaking directly to him in her autobiography she says: “O Jesus, my first and only Friend, you whom I love uniquely.”
And then there was the experience of John of the Cross which is beautifully expressed in his poetry. John refers to Jesus as his brother, his companion, his master, his saviour and his reward. Indeed John goes even further. He calls Jesus his beloved. In his poem, The Spiritual Canticle, John writes:
“Let us rejoice, Beloved,
And let us go forth to behold
Ourselves in your beauty,
To the mountain and to the hill
To where the pure water flows.”
This is a captivating description of who Jesus can become for us. He offers us his love and friendship and he longs for ours in return.