Holy Intimacy

“I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…” John 10: 14-15a

The second gift of the Holy Spirit we receive in Baptism and Confirmation is knowledge. I like to call this gift “Holy Intimacy”. I think on the surface, when most people think about the word knowledge, they think of head knowledge or what we can know intellectually. But with the gift of knowledge, God seeks to give us something much deeper than brain power; He wants us to have a relationship with Him and an understanding of the Truth.

Let’s face it, we live in a world of relativism where it is hard to see the Truth. And yet it is there. And we know that the real Truth is not a list of rules or laws or doctrines, but the Person of Jesus.  Of course it is important to know our Faith, but God is not looking for us to become walking, breathing Catholic encyclopedias. He is looking for intimacy with us. A knowledge of one another that goes beyond the surface to the core of our being—a relationship that defines who we are by who He is.

The gift of knowledge helps us to see Truth, no matter how much confusion the devil has strewn about. By knowing, loving and then living in the heart of Jesus—in Truth Itself—we will be able to see things as they really are, for what they really are and then live and walk in that knowledge. It is like putting on a special pair of spiritual X-ray goggles that causes us to view the people and events of the world through the eyes of God instead of through our own.
Ultimately, this gift will help to sustain our moral life by bring us deeper and deeper into relationship and intimacy with Christ. And the more we get to know our Savior, the more we will want to know about Him and all that He has done for us and all the ways He loves us. And we will desire to love Him back with purity and a zeal that others may not understand because they do not know Him. Then, hopefully by our example, they will want to know Him.

Dear Jesus, I want to really know You, not just know about You. Help me to spend time with You each day so that we can grow in intimacy. Amen.