Prophet Isaiah (9:1) says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone”. The greatest darkness is hopelessness, and the deepest gloom is loneliness — the lack of love. Humans, by default, being created in the image of the Triune God, desire relationships, they desire love.
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan friar, reflects, “In Jesus, God was given a face and a heart. God became someone we could love. While God can be described as a moral force, as consciousness, and as high vibrational energy, the truth is, we don’t (or can’t?) fall in love with abstractions”.[1] So the Word became Flesh, and took the form of a human that we could hear with our ears, see with our eyes, and touch with our hands (1 John 1:1). If God is Love and Jesus is the face of God, then Jesus is the ‘Face of Love’. In the incarnation of God as Jesus, we have the face of God who is love. A face that loves us, and that we can love back, too.
Can we Allow this Face of Love to Transform US?
The well-known existential Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1995) said the only thing that really converts people is “an encounter with the face of the other,”[2] and probably he learned that from his own Hebrew Scriptures. Merely following rules or religion cannot transform and save us. What truly saves us and transforms our lives is the loving connection to the Face of Love, to the person of Jesus. If our relationship with the Sacred has to be robust then it has to rise above the mechanical observance of laws and build a deep and loving relationship with God. Can we allow the face of Jesus to penetrate our hopelessness and lack of connection and love? Can we gaze at Him with love?
Can we Allow the Face of the Other to Transform US?
“When the face of the other (especially the suffering face) is received and empathized with, it leads to a transformation of our whole being. It creates a moral demand on our heart that is far more compelling than laws. Just giving people commandments on tablets of stone doesn’t change the heart. It may steel the will, but it doesn’t soften the heart like an I-Thou encounter can”.[3] We grow into the divine life, not by concepts, but by connecting to faces, delighting in them. Christianity is not about fulfilling some laws and requirements but about “loving God and the other” (Mk. 12: 30-31)
Can we Become the Face of Love for Others?
Love needs a face. When an infant looks into the eyes of its mother or loving caregiver, the infant looks into God’s eyes. Similarly, the mystery of Jesus’ incarnation invites us to become loving mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, and friends to others so that when they look at our face, they may see God’s loving face.
I wish you a Merry Christmas! May you encounter the face of love in your families and everywhere.
[1] Center for Action and Contemplation, The Face of the Others
[2] See Is It Righteous to Be?: Interviews with Emmanuel Lévinas, ed. Jill Robbins (Stanford University Press: 2001) for an introduction to his work.
Fr John,
ReplyDeleteI remember your homily from last Christmas Eve - you asked us to turn to one another to see the face of love. Thank you for always showing us the love jesus has for each of us. Love your articles. Merry Christmas!!
It's really touching fatherg. Thank you for this wonderful Christmas message. You put back Jesus into Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYes, to encounter the face of the other with love is the core of our vocation as religious. Good news is nothing but to reach out and touch others. Thanks for the beautiful reflection
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