To Gaze upon another's Face

+ J. M. J. +

Homily Outline for the Second Sunday of Lent, Year A

This morning as I drank my coffee, I was looking at my garden seeds.  As it was - 16 F below zero, I was wondering if I'll every be able to plant tomatoes!  Just buying those seeds was an act of hope!  And I think that's why the Church gives us our Gospel this Sunday!

Our Gospel this Second Sunday of Lent tells us of this amazing encounter between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, and how Peter, James, and John were witnesses to it. They gazed upon the Lord Jesus in His glory, and they gazed upon Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, representing the Prophets. They heard the Father’s voice, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Last Sunday we heard of Christ’s temptation in the desert, and I talked about the reality of the devil and the spiritual battle in which we live. This Sunday the Church places before us this image of grace and beauty, as if to balance the rather dire prospect of spiritual combat. When we gaze upon the beauty of the Lord’s Face, we are equipped to persevere and to overcome. It seems that this may have been why Jesus brought Peter, James, and John with Him up the mountain, so that seeing His glory they might not despair when they also saw His Passion.

We begin to experience the power and beauty of this encounter when we gaze upon the faces of our brothers and sisters. It seems to me that no musical instrument approaches the beauty of the human voice, and no scene or image in the world surpasses the beauty of the human face. Think of all the portraits and photographs… think of the icons of the Lord and the Saints! Many things in the created world are very beautiful, but when we gaze upon the face of another, when we look into another’s eyes, all other things pale and fade in comparison.

Perhaps we often think of this in the context of romantic love, and perhaps we remember what it was like to have a middle-school crush on someone, and to think about them obsessively, unable to turn our attention to anyone else! Our gaze can be immature, or compulsive, and this isn’t what I’m talking about. Think rather of the beauty of a little baby’s face, or the beauty of your grandfather’s weathered face… think of the beauty of someone you’ve loved and struggled to love for many years. The greatest beauty isn’t produced by make-up or youth or genetics or PhotoShop, but rather by love, and all the sacrifices that love makes, and all the joy that love brings, even in the midst of wounds and loss.

 I hope that some of you have seen the beautiful film Bella, which tells the tale of a woman who finds herself pregnant at a very bad time, and the broken man who walks with her in her time of testing. The film, whose name means beautiful, is beautiful on many levels, but one thing I’ve noticed as I’ve watched it with many different groups is that the majority of the film is comprised of the interplay of the two main characters’ faces. Neither of them is particularly glamorous in the film, on the contrary, they are both in the midst of deep loss and failure, but their faces are open to each other, and as the story develops, more and more open to each other. It is a love story, but not a superficial romance, and the audience is drawn into the faces and the struggles and the love.

Notice, too, how rarely we actually look into another person’s face! We’re rightly taught not to stare when we’re little, and in many circumstances it would be rude to simply lock eyes with each person we encounter. There is power in such a gaze, and vulnerability.

Just as there is rightly caution in our faces when we meet other people, perhaps there is often caution and hesitation when we seek to gaze upon the Lord’s face. Our psalm says, “See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness…” God never ceases to gaze upon our faces, holding us in love, even in existence, by His look of love, but we often fail to look back with open eyes. The words of our entrance antiphon today are beautiful, “Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face. It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face from me.” This is the eternal and infinite desire of our hearts, to gaze upon the Lord’s face, and if we will respond and cooperate with God’s call, this is how we will spend eternity, in loving, and being loved. Peter babbled in the light of Jesus’ glory about building tents, and when they heard the Father’s voice, they fell down, very much afraid. We should not lightly assume we are ready to see God’s face, or to hear His voice, but we should seek them nonetheless. God’s love for us is, in St. Paul’s words, “made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” If we will allow the light and glory of heaven to shine in our eyes, to shine into our hearts, we will be made ready to gaze upon the light of the Father’s countenance, to see His face, which will fill our hearts.

We are in a battle with the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, and our Lord Jesus was Himself tempted. The same Jesus who was tempted allowed three to glimpse His glory that day, and He calls us into that same glory. May we notice the hunger in our hearts, and may we look for the Lord, and may we receive Him now, His own Body and Blood, which sustain and heal and prepare us for the day when we will see Him Face to Face.

+ A. M. D. G. +