How Can We “Know” God Intimately?
The question of how we come to know God is central to the human experience. Knowing God is both a natural desire of the human heart and a divine gift made possible through revelation, faith, and reason. We believe that God, the creator of the universe, desires to be in a personal relationship with every human being. This relationship is not only possible but also necessary for true happiness and fulfillment.
Universal call to holiness refers to the fact that every baptized person is called to seek holiness regardless of his or her state of life. We can come to know God intimately through regular prayer, receiving the sacraments, and reading Sacred Scripture.
This call was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council: “Hearing the word of God with reverence and proclaiming it with faith, the sacred synod takes its direction from these words of St. John: "We announce to you the eternal life which dwelt with the Father and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we announce to you, so that you may have fellowship with us, and our common fellowship be with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:2-3). [DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON DIVINE REVELATION, DEI VERBUM, 1]
We can come to know about the existence of God through looking at nature and realizing that it must be the work of a master Designer. But looking at a beautiful sunset will not reveal to us the inner life of God as a communion of love between three persons. Why does God reveal to us who he really is? Because he wants to give Himself to us and invite us to give ourselves to Him. The Council wanted to emphasize that God calls us into life-changing intimacy with him. Our response to this revelation of His is called Faith. And this means not just a “yes I believe in these ideas” but “yes I accept you and give myself to you.”
Faith is about relationship. Catholicism is not an ideology but a relationship. Dei Verbum, one of the sixteen documents of Vatican II, makes clear that the whole purpose of God revealing himself to us is not simply to give us information about Himself but to make it possible for us to get acquainted with who He really is. Revelation’s goal is that we may not just know about Him but rather intimately know Him.
CHRISTIAN HOLINESS: CCC 2012: "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him . . . For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified." Rom 8:28-30
When we speak of “knowing” God, we do not mean simply knowing about God. We can learn all kinds of facts about the Blessed Trinity without truly knowing God himself. For example, we know many people in our own lives. There are some we know, meaning we know who they are and may know something about them. Then there are others we know in a more intimate way – family, friends, and others that we know in our hearts how they think, how they feel, and how they look at life, and what makes them “tick.”
The later way of knowing is how we should approach Jesus Christ. In seeking holiness, we want not only to know about Christ but also to know him so intimately that we align our own hearts, our minds, our own wills to Christ himself. Developing an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ requires prayer, a commitment to one’s spiritual life, and the frequent reception of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Penance.
CCC 2014: “Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.”
—Deacon Gerry Flamm
“Dear children! Pray that the Holy Spirit may enlighten you that you be joyful seekers of God and witnesses of love without bounds. I am with you, little children, and, anew, I am calling all of you: take courage and bear witness to the good works that God is doing in and through you. Be joyful in God. Do good to your neighbor so that it will be good for you on earth and pray for peace, which is threatened because Satan wants war and placelessness. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
