2nd Sunday of Lent 2023 - Seek his face continually

 

Upon Mt. Tabor, Peter, James, and John were honored to see in time what we all long to see in eternity: the face of God shining like the sun.

Scripture speaks often of man’s deep desire to gaze upon the face of God. Psalm 27 expresses this desire: “Your face, O Lord, do I seek. Hide not your face from me.”

Way back in the book of numbers the Lord instructed Moses how Aaron and the Levites were to bless the people of Israel by invoking the promise of the holy face. “May the LORD bless you and keep you! May the LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! May the LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

First Chronicles instructs us: “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

The very last prayer a soul might hear from the last rites of the Church speak of the Lord’s face: “Go forth Christian soul from this life…May you return to your Creator who formed you from the dust of the earth. May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life. . . May you see your Redeemer face to face.”

Everlasting life consists of beholding God face to face, what we call the beatific vision. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” as Paul writes to the Corinthians.  In the beatific vision, all of our longings are fulfilled in God, we will know God fully and experience being fully known by Him—being seen fully. “Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

And upon Mt. Tabor, Peter, James, and John, if but just for a moment, saw Christ’s divine countenance revealed. We read of this story every hear on the 2nd Sunday of Lent to urge us on and to remind us that we willingly undergo so many Lenten penances and sacrifices because we hope that through them we may be assisted in coming to behold the face of God in eternity.

Yet, like Peter, James, and John, we can enjoy a foretaste of the beatific vision by contemplating the face of God made flesh—by contemplating the face of Jesus Christ. One of the Lenten practices which helps us contemplate the face of Christ is of course the Stations of the Cross. 

As Jesus made the via crucis, the way of the cross, many people gazed upon his suffering face—some looked upon him with pity, some in sorrow, some with faith, some seeking a way to comfort him.  As you make the stations of the cross, you are invited to imagine the face of Jesus—the strain on his face as he took the heavy cross upon his shoulders, the blood stinging his eyes from the crown of thorns along with the dust of the streets of Jerusalem, perhaps even the spittle running down his cheek of those who derided him—his face, once beautiful, but now disfigured and bruised from the beatings and scourgings. Throughout the Lenten stations of the cross we image his holy face wincing in pain as he was whipped by the soldiers, and when he fell under the heavy weight of the cross. You can imagine his face when he locked eyes with his mother, whose maternal heart saw the suffering upon the face of her son, as only a mother can detect.

You can imagine the look of determination as he climbed Mt. Calvary, his blistered chapped lips as he thirsted during the crucifixion, and perhaps the peace that overtook his face as anguish transitioned into death as he took his last breath.

I invite you, as you pray the stations of the cross, or the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, or as you read through the passion stories, this Lent to prayerfully use your imagination to contemplate the face of Jesus. For the suffering upon his Holy Face was that you might come to behold his glorious face in eternity. His Holy Face is a sign of love for you and for all sinners.

One woman in particular during the way of the cross, gazed upon the face of Jesus, a woman named Veronica.  Seeing his suffering, Veronica risked the threat of punishment by the Roman Soldiers and approached the Lord to wipe his face with her veil. What a beautiful act to console the suffering Christ. 

Veronica wiping the face of Jesus with her veil is depicted in the sixth station. And if you’ve never looked at the station closely, here in church, go take a closer look. You will see, Veronica, holding her veil aloft. And on her veil the image of the face of Christ which had appeared miraculously. 2000 years later the very veil of Veronica is now kept at St. Peter’s in Rome, and pilgrims there are blessed with it on the 5th Sunday of Lent after evening vespers. 

I came across a beautiful reflection upon St. Veronica by the late Pope Benedict XVI who said, “Veronica embodies the universal yearning of the devout men and woman of the Old Testament, the yearning of all believers to see the face of God. On Jesus’ Way of the Cross, she at first did nothing more than perform an act of womanly kindness: she held out a facecloth to Jesus. She did not let herself be deterred by the brutality of the soldiers or the fear that gripped the disciples. She is the image of that good woman, who amid turmoil and dismay, shows the courage born of goodness and does not allow her heart to be bewildered…At first, Veronica saw only a buffeted and pain-filled face. Yet her act of love impressed the true image of Jesus on her heart. On his human face, bloodied and bruised, she saw the face of God and his goodness, which accompanies us even in our deepest sorrows. Only with the heart can we see Jesus. Only love purifies us and gives us the ability to see. Only love enables us to recognize the God who is love itself.”

What a beautiful and powerful reflection! The purpose of Lent, the purpose of all of those lenten penances, is to be purified in order to love God more, to love God in this life that we may behold the face of the One who is Love in eternity.

Each of us, whether you’ve ever acknowledged it or not, has the desire to see the face of Jesus. And so we risk the mockery of the crowd and the hostility of the government to run toward Christ, to do all that we can to seek his face, to seek his face continuously. 

At the turn of the Millennium Pope St. John Paul urged the Church “I dare to summon the whole Church bravely to cross this new threshold, to put into the deep, …so that now as in the past the great engagement of the Gospel and culture may show to the world ‘the glory of God on the Face of Christ.’

May we do just that, put out into the deep, dig deep—to garner effort and strength from the depth of our being —in order to discern with the help of the Holy Spirit what earthly endeavors must be cast aside and what heavenly practices we must more seriously take-up in order to seek the face of Christ and show it to the world, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

5th Week of Lent 2019 - Tuesday - Jesus reveals God's love

"When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM”

Like the bronze serpent which was salvation for those who looked on it in that first reading, Jesus lifted up on the cross becomes salvation for all who look on him in faith.

What a strange utterance by Jesus, though. Upon the cross, we will realize that Jesus is God. To the ancient sentimentality and to ours, the cross was a sign of defeat. To the worldly minded, what better sign to prove that Jesus is not God. Look at his blood. Look at his suffering. Look at his death. How is that Godlike? How is a man, bloodied, beaten, and crucified, a sign of God, and not just a sign, but the sign par excellence.

Why does the cross, more than any of Jesus’ miracles, more than any of his teachings, show us God? Because it is upon the cross that Jesus shows us that God is radical self-giving love. He is not simply a God of strength who has the power to crush his enemies with brute strength.  He is not simply a God of wisdom who can outsmart his opponents. He’s not like the Gods of the Romans and the Greeks are essentially unconcerned with the affairs of mortals. God is Love, St. John says. And not love in the human erotic sense, or even the strong emotional bonds of family or country.

God is self-giving love. And it is upon the cross where that is most evident in the life of Jesus. “There is no greater love than one who lays down his life for his friends”.

And this is what Lent has been preparing us for: All the Lenten practices of helping us to be attentive to the needs of others, willingly undergoing penances so that we are not so afraid of suffering. So that we, like Him, can give away our lives in self-giving. The measure of holiness is our willingness to give of ourselves. Meaning in life is discovered, God is discovered, not in gaining possessions, having control over our peers, but in giving of ourselves in self-sacrifice for the good of others. This is a fundamental dimension of human salvation: being saved from selfishness by embracing self-donation.

May we look to Jesus, and so the merciful self-giving face of God, may we see him and believe in him and follow him unto the cross, unto death, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That the Church will experience the graces of profound renewal during this season of Lent.  That we may grow in our eagerness in spreading the Gospel of Christ.

That all Christian families will recommit themselves to putting Christ at the center of their family life, so as to grow in faith, hope, and love.  We pray to the Lord.

For an end to abortion and for the reverence and protection of human life.  We pray to the Lord.
For the young people of our Church. May they be strengthened to be witnesses to the Gospel of mercy and work for a future that embodies a genuine culture of life.

For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter: that they will be profoundly blessed in their preparation for full initiation into the Body of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.

For the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, or suffering from addiction, mental, or physical illness, imprisoned, and those most in need: that the Lord in his goodness will be close to them in their trials.  We pray to the Lord.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

Homily: 2nd Sunday of Lent 2017 - Seek His Face

Upon Mt. Tabor, Peter, James, and John were honored to see in time what we all long to see in eternity: the face of Christ shining like the sun.

Scripture speaks often of man’s deep desire to gaze upon the face of God. Psalm 27 expresses this desire: “Your face, Lord, do I seek. Hide not your face from me.”

Way back in the book of numbers the Lord instructed Moses how Aaron and the Levites were to bless the people of Israel: by invoking the promise of the holy face. “May the LORD bless you and keep you! May the LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! May the LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”

First Chronicles instructs us: “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

And first Corinthians speaks of our eternal destiny: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

The very last prayer a soul might hear from the last rites of the Church speak of the Lord’s face: “Go forth Christian soul from this life…May you return to your Creator who formed you from the dust of the earth. May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life. . . May you see your Redeemer face to face.”

Everlasting life consists of beholding God face to face, what we call the beatific vision. In the beatific vision, all of our longings are fulfilled in God, all of the tears of our life are wiped away.
And upon Mt. Tabor, Peter, James, and John, if but just for a moment, saw Christ’s divine visage revealed.

Why do we read the Transfiguration story every year during Lent? For one, the Gospel of the Transfiguration reminds us Lenten pilgrims, that all of our Lenten sacrifices, our Lenten penances, our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, help us to be free from all that keeps us from beholding the face of God.

One of the Lenten practices which helps us contemplate the face of Christ is of course the Stations of the Cross. This week I brought several classes from the school over here to the Church and we simply walked to each station, and talked about each one—we contemplated the face of Christ in each station: what is going on here, as Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate in the first Station; why is he being stripped of his garments the 10th station; why does he fall three times as he carries his cross in the third, seventh, and ninth stations.

To gaze upon the face of Christ in the stations is to see the face of a real man, a man who does not run away from his vocation, a man who does not flee his suffering in fear, a man filled with faith and love for God and mankind. If you want to know what courage looks like: pray the stations of the cross. If you want to know what faith, patience, and forgiveness of one’s persecutors looks like, pray the stations of the cross. If you want to know what God’s love and God’s mercy for us looks like, pray the stations of the cross.

Pope Benedict XVI said, “Jesus willingly gave himself up to death so that we might be saved and pass from death to life.  Mercy has a name, mercy has a face, mercy has a heart.” Jesus is “mercy incarnate” as Pope Francis said.

As Jesus made the via crucis, the way of the cross, many people gazed upon his suffering face—some looked upon him with pity, some in sorrow, some with faith, some seeking a way to comfort him.  One woman in particular was St. Veronica, who, seeing his great suffering, risked the threat of punishment by the Roman Soldiers, and wiped the face of Jesus with her veil. What a beautiful act to console the suffering Christ.

Veronica wiping the face of Jesus with her veil is depicted in the sixth station. And if you’ve never looked at the station closely, I recommend you take a closer look. You will see, on her veil, the image of the face of Christ, which miraculously appeared as she wiped his face. The blessed veil is now kept at St. Peter’s in Rome, and pilgrims there are blessed with it on the 5th Sunday of Lent after evening vespers. She was blessed to see his holy face, and through an act of charity, became an instrument for the church of all ages to behold his earthly countenance.

Pope Benedict XVI said, “Veronica”—whose name comes from the Greek ‘Bernice’—“embodies the universal yearning of the devout men and woman of the Old Testament, the yearning of all believers to see the face of God. On Jesus’ Way of the Cross, she at first did nothing more than perform an act of womanly kindness: she held out a facecloth to Jesus. She did not let herself be deterred by the brutality of the soldiers or the fear that gripped the disciples. She is the image of that good woman, who amid turmoil and dismay, shows the courage born of goodness and does not allow her heart to be bewildered…At first, Veronica saw only a buffeted and pain-filled face. Yet her act of love impressed the true image of Jesus on her heart. On his human face, bloodied and bruised, she saw the face of God and his goodness, which accompanies us even in our deepest sorrows. Only with the heart can we see Jesus. Only love purifies us and gives us the ability to see. Only love enables us to recognize the God who is love itself.”

What a beautiful and powerful reflection from the Holy Father!

Each of us has the desire to see the face of Jesus. And that can happen when like Veronica’s our hearts are filled with the Love of Christ, when we seek him through prayer and service.

Have you seen the face of Christ this Lent? If not, I encourage you to persevere or deepen your Lenten observances. Pray the Stations of the Cross. Read through the Passion. Extend a hand in mercy to someone in need.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus promised “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” May our Lenten observances help us to be purified from earthly attachments and earthly fears and anxieties, that we may love God with a pure heart, serve our neighbor with pure charity, and thereby come to see God face to face in eternity…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.