One of the goals of Lent is to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus. To help all of us to do this, I have once again visited my vast collection of quotations and pulled out some quotes filed under “Jesus.” They are from a wide variety of authors. I hope as you prayerfully read these words of others, they might inspire your own personal love for Jesus.


1) Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus urge us to adore him. Rather, he calls us to follow him and thereby to partake of his life, his energy, his spirit. Michael Downey

2) Jesus’ sayings are not rules to live up to but challenges to live into. Rather than impossible ideals imposed on us, they are provocations to grow step-by-step, trial-and-error learning, into the best possibilities of our nature. Robert Corin Morris

4) A kindergarten girl said, “Jesus is God’s show and tell.”

5) What is the meaning of Jesus’ ministry? It is “liberating, healing, and inclusive love.” Sallie McFague

6) The most important question concerning Jesus, then, is simply this: Do we think he is dead or alive? If Jesus is dead we can learn about him. But we cannot reasonably expect to learn more from him. If he is alive, everything changes. He is not a figure of the past, but a person in the present; not merely a memory we can analyze, but an agent we can confront. If Jesus is dead, then his story is completed. If he is alive, then his story continues. Luke Timothy Johnson

7) When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, “Jesus, would you get that for me, please?” anonymous

8) Jesus had all kinds of opportunities to tell people what to think, but instead he told them what to do. Wash feet. Give your stuff away. Share your food. Favor reprobates. Pray for those who are out to get you. Be the first to say, “I’m sorry.” For those who took him as their model, being fully human was a full-time job… a vocation in itself. Barbara Brown Taylor

9) Jesus lives without anesthesia. He is numb neither to the joy nor the pain of the world. Part of his character is that he has not developed defenses to keep both happiness and sorrow moderate. John Shea

10) Christ is my music, my horizon, my sea, and my green woods. Miriam Pollard, OCSO

11) It is a great experience to go to the Holy Land and walk where Jesus walked. But it is far better to return home and walk as Jesus walked. Anonymous

12) For Jesus there was no “us” and “them.” No Jew and Samaritan… no man and woman… no northern and southern Irish… no blacks and whites… no Republicans and Democrats… no gay and straight. Jesus taught that our neighbor is everyone—especially everyone who is hurting. adapted from William Bausch

13) The message of Christ is not Christianity. The message of Christ is Christ. Gary Amirault

14) Jesus’ communion with the Father is the true center of his personality. Without it, we cannot understand him at all; and it is from this center that he makes himself present to us still today. Pope Benedict XVI

15) Would you be any different if Jesus Christ did not exist? Anthony de Mello

16) Jesus came for a far more radically transforming purpose than merely to serve as a role model. Jesus came to invite us into a living relationship with him, to abide, live, and move in his spirit, as the branch abides in the living vine… We are to live in Jesus and Jesus lives in us. Flora Slosson Wueller

For reflection:

Did any of these quotes touch your heart? If so, which one(s)? Why?

What stands out for you about the person of Jesus?

In your prayer, do you think or read about Jesus OR do you talk with him?

Do you have a favorite quotation about Jesus that you would like to share with us?

PS: Exciting News!

John Hopkins, one of our “Sunflower Seeds” readers and frequent responder, has just had a book of poetry published entitled Make My Heart a Pomegranate. John is a high school English teacher from Whitman, Massachusetts. Over the years I have featured a few of his poems on this blog. I gladly wrote the foreword to John’s book because I really like his writing. I find his poetry to be a beautiful blend of the profound and the simple. His poems are rooted in real life: walking on a beach, eating a piece of apple pie, raising children, teaching teenagers, cleaning the dryer vent, planting a shrub, and reading the last twenty pages of a book you don’t want to end. John masterfully draws from his many experiences as a son, friend, husband, father, teacher, landscaper, nature lover, and a man of deep faith and prayer.

Make My Heart a Pomegranate is available on Amazon.com. Check it out!

Our song for today is entitled “You Alone,” written by Sarah Hart and Dwight Liles. It seems like an appropriate song for the theme of today’s reflection as well as for our Lenten journey.

I welcome your comments below!