Reflection: Uncover Your Face
Sr Redempta Twomey SSC
UNCOVER YOUR FACE
For as long as anyone could remember people would stop on entering the old church, bow in the direction of a whitewashed wall and then go to their seat. If you asked why they did this no one could really tell you; just that it was a very old custom in that church and it felt right to bow. It had been part of their tradition for such a long time that no one questioned it.
Then one day the parish decided to renovate their little church. People gathered to strip the paint and whitewash off the walls. As they did this they discovered under the layers of whitewash traces of a painting on the wall that they had bowed to through the years. Excited now, they very carefully and gently peeled off the paint so as not to damage whatever lay underneath. Gradually an exquisite centuries old painting of Christ emerged. With reverential awe they uncovered a wonderful picture of the Saviour. Some of the paint had peeled away, there were gaps but Christ was instantly recognised. It was the first time anyone had seen the painting for over a century. Now, when the treasure was revealed in all its beauty, the people understood why they had been bowing to that blank wall through the years.
“My heart has said of you,
‘Seek his face’.
Lord, I do seek your face;
do not hide it from me.” (Ps 27: 8)
The cry of the psalmist is our cry because, though we may not always be aware of it, there is a deep hunger in our heart, a longing to see the face of God. Like the people of that church who were somehow drawn to that blank wall, we sense that underneath all the endless chatter, amusement and distractions of our days there lies something real and precious and full of meaning.
Now is the time to uncover that great treasure, to peel away the layers of sin that block us from seeing the Christ within us. Now is the time to look for the face of Christ in others - in my heart-scalding teenager, my troublesome neighbour, my sharp-tongued boss, that irritating beggar. Is there someone I need to forgive? Can I reach out and break down the barriers that have hardened over the years?
In moving out to others we begin to uncover the face of Christ. Not that we instantly recognise the Lord, far from it. We may still be stuck in the same old rut, the dead-end job, the daily disappointments. The same old record, we mutter, and yet, because of our faith, that dynamic power which is our gift, things are utterly changed.
Remember the story of the last judgement? The astonishment of the good who asked, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked, in prison...?” They had not seen the face of God but they had lived out His word and it was only now, at the last judgement, that they saw Him and understood the meaning of their lives.
All around us are signs of GodŐs presence. His Face is to be seen not only in the beauty of the rose, but in the hovels of the poor, the anguish of the prisoner, the distress and pain of the sick. When we look for that Face with love and great longing, Christ will reveal Himself to us deep in our heart, until the day comes when we will see Him face to face.
Far East Magazine [April 2006]