Speaking before 80 young people at last weekend’s annual Embrace the Grace (ETG) conference in New Norcia, Associate Professor John Kinder echoed the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in defining Christianity as an encounter, liberating the individual from a culture of death.
“Christianity is an event…each of us remembers the event which made us realise that we found what we had been searching for,” Mr Kinder said.
“I did not find Jesus, I let Jesus find me through the people around me… What saves me is my encounter of Jesus Christ through others,” he said.
Emphasising this need for an encounter, Mr Kinder spoke on the story of Zacchaeus and how Jesus called the sinner to share in a meal and invited him to a personal friendship, stating “that is Christianity”.
Mr Kinder continued to stress the importance of this personal friendship through examining Christ’s encounter with Andrew and John – his first disciples.
“Andrew and John saw something humanly attractive in Jesus.
“When they approach Him at the beginning of John’s Gospel, Jesus turns to them and asks ‘What do you want?”
“Jesus not only asks Andrew and John but all of us ‘What do you really want?’
Their response, Mr Kinder continued, was simply ‘Rabbi, where do you live?’
Since the disciples’ attraction for Jesus was immediate, Mr Kinder explained, they were only concerned about knowing where Christ lived. This is something we can relate to, from our experience of love. “For someone in love the thing they most want is to be where the beloved is,” Kinder said.
Mr Kinder continued his talk, saying that Jesus’ response to the disciples question was “Come and see”. These words, Mr Kinder said, are “Christianity in its simplicity and entirety”. The disciples came to know who Jesus really was, through their friendship with him, which started in such a simple way.
“As Christians we are called to invite everyone to “Come and See” Jesus in our human companionship and experience Him for themselves.”
Mr Kinder reiterated that liberation from the culture of death can only through living in relationship with Christ, and this happens in communion with others who share our journey.
Faith and hope, as Mr Kinder explained, grow out of this encounter and their definitions go hand in hand with the real experience of Jesus. As Pope Francis says, “Christians look to the future, God’s future, so that we can live this life to the fullest, with our feet firmly planted on the ground and respond courageously to whatever challenges come our way”.
“Faith is recognising a presence with certainty now, and hope is looking forward to that presence with certainty tomorrow.”