Which is Better: Self-Help or Friendship with Jesus?

The other day, as I was driving south on Route 95, I was awestruck by the autumn foliage.  A couple of times I was tempted to stop and look, but that’s not the smartest thing to do when you’re on the highway during rush hour.  However, when I was on the back roads about a mile from my parent’s house, I was able to stop for a few moments on a small bridge and take in a picture-perfect autumn-in-New England scene: the sun was shining, the trees along the river’s edge seemed to be on fire, brilliant with spectacular reds and yellows, and their colors were reflecting on the water.  A “thank you Lord” welled up in my heart.

Life is so rich when our hearts are fully aware of the Lord’s presence and the daily gifts that He gives us.  But how can we live each day with an awakened heart?  How can we see not only the beauty of creation each day, but also the beauty of our lives?  Pope Benedict gives us the best answer.

Just three weeks after Pope John Paul’s death, Pope Benedict, in his inaugural homily, reechoed his predecessor’s words and once again invited us not to be afraid to open our hearts to Jesus Christ.  He said,

“If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life.”

So many people are searching to find true life.  So many people are striving to realize their great potential.  Browse any bookstore and you will eventually come to the self-help section.  I have personally benefitted from some of this literature.  But there is always one thing missing in secular self-help books: Jesus.  Self-development is a good thing; however, we only fully realize the true beauty and potential of our lives when we have a personal friendship with Jesus.  At times, as I read some of these books, I find myself thinking, “All of this and more is possible in Jesus!”

In friendship with Jesus, we see the deeper beauty of the autumn foliage because we realize it is a complete gift from the Lord (“all things were created through Him” – Colossians 1:16).  In friendship with Jesus, we realize the great potential of our existence much more profoundly than any self-help book can teach us because we come to understand that it is God’s grace, given to us in and through Christ, that transforms our lives more effectively than any human striving can achieve.  In friendship with Jesus, we are truly liberated from all that keeps us from being fully alive.

How is it that friendship with Jesus opens wide the doors to life?  Put simply, because He is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And when we live in union with the Lord, He reveals to us what it means to be fully human and gives us the grace to live in holiness.

The invitation to each of us is to let Jesus into our lives.  As the Pope said, many are afraid to do this because they believe Jesus may take something away.  But Jesus will only take away whatever is stopping us from being fully alive in Him.

In this Sunday’s Gospel we contemplate Jesus healing the blind man, Bartimaeus.  However, Bartimaeus was not only healed of his blindness; his heart was awakened to the reality that Jesus Christ was his Savior and friend.  His great potential was revealed in his encounter with Jesus.  He was liberated through his encounter with Jesus; and after his encounter with the Lord he saw true beauty for the first time. Bartimaeus did not lose anything when he responded to Christ calling him; rather, he gained everything.

Do you want to live each day with a fully awakened heart?  Do you want to be deeply aware of the beauty that surrounds you everyday?  Do you want to know and experience the great potential of your life?  Do you want to be liberated from everything that is keeping you from being fully alive?  Open wide the doors of your heart to Christ.  Live in friendship with Him.  In Him you will find true life. For, as Pope Benedict said, Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation.