Why can't I feel the same passion for Jesus as so many others do?
I hear people say all kinds of nice things about Jesus Christ: "I wholeheartedly welcome Him", "He is my very life", etc. Why can't I grasp and experience the same? Why is not Jesus present in my own life? God is my comfort, my strength, but Jesus is out of my reach! How frustrating!
Now, the confusion is mine...
I do not see how God can be your strength and comfort when Jesus is not with you.
Only through Jesus Christ do we really know God. He "is the accomplishment of revelation" (Divine Revelation, 4). His visible presence on earth has uncovered the true face of God. Your God is the God of Jesus Christ. There can be no other God.
What I think is that you are very close to understanding. Light will soon break through. You seem so close to Jesus. He is there at your side. Your heart burns from His love. Before long, you will recognize Him. Then, your frustration will be changed into joy. You will welcome Him with all your heart and He will become the center of your life.
Your frustration barely hides an intense desire. Where does it come from if not from Him?
It would be much more unfortunate not to wish to know Jesus, not to crave to love Him. Pray that your attraction to Jesus may spur you on. "You would not seek Me if you had not already found Me", says Jesus. When we look for Him, we find Him and when we find Him we still seek for Him.
Yes, do pray! Prayer can obtain everything. Most certainly it can bring about the coming of Jesus into your life. He is your Savior.
Read the Gospel every day if possible. The Gospel tells about Jesus. It is the good news that God loves us. On every page, Jesus' words and deeds appear as proof of this. To see Jesus and to hear Jesus is to see and hear God Himself. Jesus said: "Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn 14: 9).
Indeed, I encourage you to ache for Jesus, to thirst and hunger for Him. Longing for Jesus is already loving Him.
If you pray and read the Bible, you will discover the Lord Jesus, "God unknown" whom "you worship in ignorance" (Ac 17: 23). He will become the center of your life. Your faith in Him will be personal and mature. You will rely on Him. Your life, like that of many Christians today, will change the moment you understand that Jesus is the living God, risen from the dead, who loves us and goes out of His way in order to prove it.
You will become His follower.
As Saint Paul wrote, you too will say: "I have come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ" (Ph 3: 8).