The Spirit “remained” on Jesus, that’s the thing. It’s how John knew it was him.

In John’s Gospel the verb menein—translated “to remain” or “to abide”—does a lot of theological work illustrating how God relates to us and we to him. It’s also how the Persons of the Trinity relate within themselves. For instance, the Spirit “remains” on Jesus (Jn 1:32) and the Father “remains” in the Son (Jn 14:10). And, for believers, we “remain” in the Son by faith and obedience (Jn 15:10). You see what John is trying to show with that one little verb? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit “remain” in each other; now because of Jesus, we too can “remain” in God. That is, of course, if we have faith and follow Jesus, cross and all.

So, what does this mean? When we talk about having a “personal relationship” with God, this is the theological substance of it, that God does indeed dwell within us and abides. By faith, the Holy Spirit is poured into our hearts (Rom 5:5). When we eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood, we “remain” in him and he in us (Jn 6:56). What the Church wants us to remember by this is what Paul and the writer of Deuteronomy said, that the word of God is near, in our mouths and hearts (Dt 30:14; Rom 10:8) and that this is made real in the Church and in the Eucharist. That is, the Church wants us to remember the basics of our Catholic faith.

Which means if you want to grow closer to God, well: believe, pray, draw near to the Church and to Christ in the Eucharist. Growing in your Catholic faith is growing nearer God; that is still truth. If you want to grow closer to God, this is how you do it: live well the Catholic life. To be honest, it’s remarkably simple, nothing gimmicky about it. It begins in your nearest Catholic parish, in quiet, in a pew, in your heart. Where the Spirit descends and abides. If you’ll let him.