17th Week, Wednesday, July 27
Exodus
34:29-35 / Matthew 13:44-46
The face
of Moses changes; The face of Moses became radiant.
The Cloud of
Unknowing is a spiritual classic that dates back hundreds of years. Its author
says that prayerfulness sometimes has an impact on one's appearance. A
prayerful person often radiates an aura that makes even a plain-looking person
look attractive. One of the great saints of the 13th century, St. Elizabeth of
Hungary, was such a person. A letter dating from that century says that people
"often saw her face shining marvellously and light coming from her
eyes." Possibly this phenomenon prompted artists to paint a halo around
the heads of saints. Today's reading appears to give support to these
observations about holy people.
***
Have we ever
noticed anything special about a prayerful or holy
person? Whoever prays much by night, his face is fair by day." Islamic
saying
***
The radiance
on the face of Moses indicates his intimate relationship with God. He is the
prophet, the leader, the mediator between the people and God, the reconciler.
***
Our faces and our feet are at the different parts of our body, and depending on our height, they vary in the length apart. Yet, when our feet are hurting from the shoes we are wearing or whatever, somehow our face shows it. Oh yes, we can hide our feelings, but not for long. And more so if it is the feelings and emotions in our heart. What we feel in our hearts will show on our faces, and it will show through the make-up and the masks we might want to put on.
Moses couldn't hide the radiance and the glory of God which he experienced, and it showed on his face. What Moses experienced challenges us to look at ourselves and to ask what others see in us. We may not like what we see of ourselves in the mirror, maybe because it reminds us of the hurt, the pain, the resentment that is gripping our hearts.
Yet we must
also remember that God has planted the treasures of His love in our hearts. In
this Eucharist, let us ask the Lord to heal us so that we can let go of our
sinfulness and to realize the treasures of God's love in us. And may God's love
in us be reflected on our faces too.
***
God is the
greatest good and to belong to him is our most precious possession. Now we are
the children of God. God dwells in us. We are the heirs of heaven. To accept it
has to be the deliberate and free decision of every Christian. Every Christian
has to be ready to become a martyr, to have his fortune confiscated, to be sent
to a concentration camp 0r Prison. Few of us today will have this privilege. A
Christian may have to face emigration to give up his home. This is every man's
decision for God. Many show that they appreciate God as their greatest value,
by following the evangelical counsels. In their vow of poverty, they tell God
that he is their greatest treasure. In their vow of obedience, they choose
God's will as theirs. In chastity, they choose God as their only love. Every
Christian has to choose God when making his career. He may be tempted to make a
compromise with his conscience, he may have to choose between God and a civil
marriage.
***
The two
parables of today’s gospel stress, each in its own way, that one should give up
everything in order to possess the kingdom. In the first parable, the kingdom
is the treasure, in the second, not the pearl, not the thing, but the person in
constant search of it. Our search should concern the things that really matter:
God’s reign among people, which, in response to God’s grace, we prepare through
our love, our justice, our service, our compassion and forgiveness, by which we
let Christ’s death and resurrection become a reality in our day. But it is a
search – an ongoing quest, never fully achieved, but always, so we hope, in
growth and progress.
***
Prayer
Lord God,
our Father, our heart remains restless until it has discovered the peace you
offer us in your Son Jesus Christ. Help us to put our trust and joy not in
brittle, perishable things but in your Son, his good news and the kingdom he
came to build among us. Make us poor and receptive, give each of us an
attentive and wise heart that keeps seeking until we have found you in Jesus
and in people. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
