Intimate contact with Jesus (Pope Leo XIV / St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata)

We are often preoccupied with teaching doctrine…
but we risk forgetting that our first task
is to teach what it means to know Jesus Christ
and to bear witness to our closeness to the Lord.

 --Pope Leo XIV

    I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus—one to one—you and Jesus alone. We may spend time in the chapel—but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love? Do you really know the living Jesus—not from books but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you? Ask for the grace; He is longing to give it. Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying 'I Thirst' in the hearts of the poor. Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person—not just the idea. 

—St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata 

Image source 1: Giovanni Bellini, Christ Blessing (1500), https://simplykalaa.com/famous-paintings-of-jesus/

Image source 2: El Greco, The Veil of St. Veronica (ca. 1580-1582), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Greco_-_The_Veil_of_St_Veronica_-_WGA10461.jpg
Quotation source 1
Quotation source 2