Meg Hunter-Kilmer spent 12 years living in her car and traveling around the U.S. to share her love for Jesus with individuals and audiences. Despite her devotion to her Catholic faith, she became aware of a serious shortcoming in her spiritual life.
Like a lot of people, she had heard and read the gospels so many times that she thought she knew all there was to know about them. If the priest at Mass started the parable of the Prodigal Son, she would think, "I know what happens next, so I don't have to listen." Then, her mind might drift to her grocery list or plans for next weekend.
But after reading the books The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas and To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed, Meg began to see that Jesus was not just a figure in heaven who loved her; He was someone who had "smile lines [and] scars on His fingers from working in the carpenter shop," she explained on Christopher Closeup."
That idea of Jesus' humanity overwhelmed her, so she spent six months reading the gospels and gospel commentaries. Those efforts led to her latest book, Eyes Fixed on Jesus, Volume 1. Meg noted. "The gospels are so familiar to us that we let them wash over us, but they're also so foreign that we don't pick up on the connections that are being made."
Learning "biblical context" was key to Meg's new understanding of the gospels. For instance, in modern times, we use the term "Good Samaritan" to refer to anyone who does a kind deed. But Jewish audiences in Jesus' time "loathed" the Samaritans. The fact that Jesus approached the Samaritan woman at the well as Bridegroom rather than an enemy demonstrates there is nothing we can do to keep Jesus from loving us.
Jesus' eagerness to approach anybody speaks to His humility. Another example is when He encountered Matthew, the tax collector. Meg explained, "This, for me, was one of the biggest things in starting to understand more about context in Scripture. A tax collector is not a pencil pusher. A tax collector is a Nazi collaborator. This is a guy who looked at the violent and vicious oppressors of his people and [thought], 'Those guys seem like they tip well.' And Jesus still wanted him."
It's important to note that Jesus doesn't condemn Matthew for his actions and then say, "Follow me." Instead, Jesus gets to know him first as a person, just like He does with the other "sinners" who come as guests to the meal Matthew hosts for Jesus. The Pharisees do not look kindly on this gathering or Jesus' approach.
Meg said, "[Jesus] is calling everybody to conversion, but He comes out hard against the Pharisees and those who congratulate themselves on their religiosity. And He says, 'Hey, I actually don't care how many Divine Mercy chaplets you pray if you despise the poor,' analogously. Whereas with sinners, He comes in gentle and draws them closer. That's important for us to recognize. If we are standing on a street corner with signs about how God hates you, we have lost this battle for a soul. We need to encounter the person in front of us and love them wildly with the love of Jesus. And when they believe that they are safely loved, that's when they're willing to hear an invitation to conversion. But you can't start with condemnation. It's not effective, and it's not what Jesus did."
This essay is a recent "Light One Candle"
column by Tony Rossi, Director of Communications, The Christophers; it is one of a series of
weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current
events.
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