Make It Personal

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, February 23, 2025:
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

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1 Corinthians
15.45-49

​Brothers and sisters: “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the one of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.

Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will also bear the image of the one of heaven.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

“It’s gotta be personal.” 

Recently, I heard these words from my pastor as he addressed a room full of parish leaders. He was speaking of faith, one’s relationship with Christ. When he said it, my immediate thought was, “Well, duh! Of course it is.” My next thought was, “Wait … is it? Really?”

What struck me was that, of course I know in my head that a relationship with Christ is meant to be personal but, on a deeper level, do I know it in my heart? I am less quick to answer “of course” to that question. Not that I don’t believe in a personal relationship with Christ but rather, because I am human, I can lose sight of the intimacy and vulnerability that needs to be a part of a personal relationship with anyone, let alone with our God.  God so desires a relationship with each of us. After all, it gets no more personal than God sending his only Son Jesus to be with those who are “made of dust.” For Jesus to take human form and then die for me, for all of us – this is personal. God offers me His life-giving spirit through Jesus. And so, so, so much more. If God is willing to get that personal with me, then surely I should be able to get personal with Him.

I don’t count myself as someone who sees the world as black and white. I have come to relish in the “grey” of life, the not-quite-so-certainness of life. It is in this grey that Jesus comes to me. It is in this grey that He calls me to bring others to Him. He helps me to do this each time I receive him in the Eucharist. In receiving him, I deepen our relationship and allow Him to transform my heart. Because of this there is more to my humanness. Through Christ, I am superhuman. There’s this classic icebreaker that asks, “If you could have one superpower what would it be.” Because of my love of travel or maybe just wanting to get places fast, I always say I would love the ability to fly. However, in receiving Christ and being in relationship with Him, I am gifted with a far greater superpower: the ability be loved and to love. If I know I am loved, I can do anything. This sense of being known, cared for, belonging somewhere to Someone roots me to a certainty that allows me to live and love in a world of uncertainty. 

I can do things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13) because I choose to make it personal. I chose to allow Christ fully into my life – mind and heart. And if I know I am loved – truly, fully with all my faults – how could I not want others to know this deep and unconditional love also? How could I not show and share this love with others? How could I not … make it personal?

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​Aurea Sadi

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