Daily Reflections - November 12,2012

Seek the Face of God

 

Some years ago, an agency launched a special fleet of planes that would be specially dedicated to religious pilgrimages. It was endorsed by the Vatican and, during the blessing, they revealed that the motto of these planes that were printed on every backseat goes, “Cerco il tuo volto, Signore.” That is Italian for “I seek Your face, O Lord.”

I smiled. I thought it was a little scary being in a plane and right in front of you are the words, “I seek Your face, O Lord.” If I were on that flight, I might add, “But not right now, O Lord.”

As today’s antiphon in the Responsorial Psalm invites, “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” This is the Christian’s ultimate goal: to behold the face of God. We all want to see the Lord’s face. But as I jokingly said, not immediately. I think you know what I mean.

But seeing the Lord’s face need not happen only after we die. Seeing the Lord’s face is an everyday calling and duty for a Christian. Doesn’t the Bible exhort us, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:20-21)? And didn’t Jesus tell us, “Whoever does these things to the least of his brethren, he did it to me” (Matthew 25:40)?

In the classic musical play Les Miserables, the criminal Jan Valjean was converted when the bishop showed him Christian charity beyond what he deserved. In an unforgettable line of the final song, the characters proclaimed, “To love another person is to see the face of God!”

So you want to see the face of God? Don’t wait until the end of your days. Seeing the face of God means seeing God in every person we meet. Seeing the face of God also means seeing each person we encounter with the eyes of Jesus. Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Is seeing the face of God for you only a “spiritual reality” that you look forward to at the twilight of life?

 

Lord Jesus, may I behold Your face always. And may I also give face to the beauty of Your truth. Amen.