V/ My eyes are turned to you, O Lord.
R/ You are the joy and gladness of my youth.
V/ Grant me the Wisdom that sits by your throne.
R/ That I may dwell as a child in your presence.
Let us pray
Lord, during this Lent, I commit myself to You and ask that You take over my life. Remove distractions and fill me with Your spirit of love for my failings. Strengthen my resolve with Your power as I engage in prayer, fasting, and charity. Nurture my love for Your Word and keep me attuned to Your voice. Amen.
GAZING AT HIM WHO LOOKS AT US
Rev. Fr. Emeka K. Agboeze, OCD
Second Sunday Of Lent, Yr A
Genesis 12:1-4; Psalm 32(33): 4-5,18-20,22; 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9
Knowing someone implies recognising their face and voice, which signals their presence. A real relationship presupposes beholding their face and hearing their voice. Our knowledge of God involves this same process: God shows us his face and speaks to us. We call this revelation—literally pulling back the veil that prevents us from seeing or hearing him.
The veil exists due to our limitations, yet God always speaks and lets his face shine. Because of our incapacity, God pedagogically leads us closer to his mystery, speaking “in the past to our ancestors in many and varied ways” (Heb. 1:1). Today, however, the Gospel demonstrates the culmination of our access to him in Christ: “This is my Son, the Beloved… Listen to him.” The face of Christ is the face of God: “To have seen me is to have seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9); and his voice is the Father’s: “What I tell you is from the Father…” (cf. Jn. 14:24). We must therefore gaze upon and listen to Christ.
True piety involves seeking God’s face (Ps. 27:8) and cherishing his Word (Ps. 1:2), as Moses and Elijah exemplify. God spoke to Moses “face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Ex. 33:11). Hearing God’s voice, Moses received the Decalogue—literally ‘ten words’—and communicated God’s will to the people as a true mediator. Elijah shared a similar privilege. During a time of general apostasy, he remained steadfast in God’s face and presence: “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand” (1 Kgs 18:15). God also spoke to Elijah, most significantly in a “still small voice” (1 Kgs 19:12).
Yet their experience was partial. Though Moses experienced God’s presence, he could not see his face (Ex. 33:22-23), and Elijah covered his own face when encountering God (1 Kgs 19:13). Their experience was transitory—God simply passed by them (Ex. 33:22; 1 Kgs 19:11)—since the Word had not yet taken “flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14).
Nevertheless, their authentic experience profoundly marked the history of God’s self-revelation. Thus, they rightly stand at the Transfiguration face to face with Christ, in whom “dwells the fullness of divinity” (Col. 2:9). The dispositions of Moses and Elijah are required of us today. We must keep seeking God’s face, knowing that the very process of searching is a real finding. He who seeks is already experiencing God’s presence; as St. Catherine of Siena notes, “All the way to heaven is heaven.” This sustained, intimate encounter requires the Word, for “faith comes from hearing” (Rom. 10:17). Hearing ultimately leads to gazing, just as the liturgy’s proclaimed Word prepares us for the invitation: “Behold the Lamb of God.”
This dynamic beautifully shapes our personal prayer. St. Teresa of Avila, encouraging us to embrace the Sacred Humanity of Jesus through whom we access the Trinity, urged: “If we can, we should occupy ourselves in looking at Him Who is looking at us; keep Him company; talk with Him…” She invites us into the experience of Moses and Elijah on the Mountain of Transfiguration, gazing upon Christ and conversing with him. Therefore, “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:1-2).
Prayer
Lord God, like Moses and Elijah, we long to experience your presence. Pull back the veil of our distractions and limitations, and draw us up the mountain of prayer. Give us the grace to gaze intimately upon the face of your Beloved Son, to listen attentively to his voice, and to rest in the quiet assurance that to seek you is already to find you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ponder Questions
1. Where in your daily routine do you intentionally pause to seek the face of God, rather than just asking Him for things?
2. When God speaks in a “still, small voice,” is your interior life quiet enough for you to respond?
3. How can you more actively “keep Him company” this week, embracing St. Teresa’s invitation to look at Him who is looking at you?
Practice for the Week
Silent Companionship: Set aside five to ten minutes each day this week strictly for silent gazing. Find a quiet space, perhaps before a crucifix or a holy image of Christ. Do not focus on reading or reciting words; instead, practice the simple presence St. Teresa of Avila recommends. Just sit quietly, resting in the awareness that Christ is present and looking upon you with love.
Phrase to Memory
“He who seeks is already, by that fact, experiencing God’s presence.”