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| photo courtesy of Paul Badde/EWTN |
(translated from the original Italian text)
Homily, Solemn Eucharistic Celebration
Basilica of the Holy Face, Manoppello
21 May 2017
Sixth Sunday of Easter [Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; I
Peter 3:15-18, John 14:15-21]
+ Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We thank our God who, always filled with love and
benevolence towards us, has gathered us as one family of faith for this solemn
celebration of the Holy Face of Manoppello. I bring you warm greetings and
wishes of peace from the Philippines, where the devotion to the Holy Face is alive,
vibrant and widespread. Celebrating the Eucharist with you on this sixth Sunday of
Easter gives me great joy.
In the Gospel that we just listened to, Jesus told his
disciples, “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see
me, because I live and you will live.” These words are fulfilled now in our assembly,
in our hearing. We see Jesus´ face now. We can see him because he is alive, he
is in our midst now. And seeing his face, we do not die, contrary to the fear
of the people of old that seeing the face of God would mean death for them. On
the contrary, seeing Jesus´s holy face we draw the life and energy which comes from
him. This is a profound blessing granted to us, now. This gives us a foretaste of eternal life,
where we hope to behold the face of God in eternal contemplation and adoration.
Seeing Jesus, we live! Seeing Jesus, we
live!
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| photo courtesy of Paul Badde/EWTN |
How could it be possible for us to see Jesus? As
sinners, we do not have the merit nor the right to see his face. But we see him
and we live! How could this happen? The answer comes from Jesus in the Gospel
of today, “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and
reveal myself to him.” Strictly speaking, we do not see the face of Jesus. It
is more accurate to say that he reveals his face to us. He shows his face, and
so we see. This is pure grace. This is pure and total love on the part of
Jesus. He manifests his face, his true self, for no other reason than for the
love he has for us. Allow me to share with you three points useful for
reflection.
First, when Jesus shows his face to us, he does not
look at his own face. He looks at us. Even in our daily experience, when we
show our face to other people, we look at them, not at ourselves. This is love:
in showing my face I become someone who sees others, who hears others, who
understands others, who feels for others. Showing one´s face means that I spend
less time looking at my own face, my activities, my needs, my comfort or
well-being, my interests and instead that I devote more time to looking at the
face of others, of those who suffer. This is the love that the holy face of
Jesus shows us. He is interested in us, he is for us, he looks at us more than he
looks at himself. The devotees of the Holy Face must be like him. Is our gaze
directed only at ourselves, our immediate group, those closest to us or are we
learning from Jesus who penetrates the hearts of others with his loving gaze?
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| photo courtesy of Paul Badde/EWTN |
Second, the face of Jesus, a loving and other-centered
face is also a face that speaks. Even when our lips do not utter “audible”
words, our face can speak “visible” words. He said in the Gospel, “If you love
me, you will keep my commandments.” His face is not only seen but heard. Jesus´
face is the human face of the Word of God, now heard and seen especially in his
commandments. In our time, people look at rules as something negative. But the commandments
of the Lord are not burdens to make our life more difficult, not tools to destroy
our freedom, not mechanisms of condemnation of our weak and fragile persona.
His commandments are paths to peace, liberty and forgiveness. In Jesus´ face we
see the person who fulfilled the commandment to love God above all and one’s
neighbor as oneself. His commandments are visible in him who told us, “Come to
me...Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke, in face, is easy and my burden light”
(Matthew 11:28-30). The devotees of the Holy Face are called to listen
attentively to Jesus who is the visible word of peace, of freedom, of forgiveness
and of love.
Finally, what we have seen and heard, we must share
with others. In the first reading, Philip proclaimed in Samaria the Jesus that
he had seen and heard. His preaching was accompanied by visible signs of
healing and liberation. The face of Jesus was seen and heard in Philip´s
testimony. In the second reading, Peter tells those who are undergoing trials
and persecution to be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks for a reason
for the hope that is in them. The answer is simple: Jesus! He is our sure hope.
His love for us and triumph over death is the reason why we have hope. But
Peter reminds us to proclaim our hope with gentleness and respect, with a clear
conscience and integrity of life, with readiness to suffer for doing good
rather than for doing evil. In other words, we best proclaim Jesus if others
see and hear Jesus in us.
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| photo courtesy of Paul Badde/EWTN |
We see the face of Jesus because He reveals His face
to us, the face of the loving God. His is the face of God turned towards us and
not centered on himself. His is the face of the One who fulfilled the
commandment of love. As we see and hear His face may our faces be transformed
into his holy face. Through the testimony of our faces, may the suffering
people of the world know that Jesus sees them, listens to them, cares for them
and loves them. Amen.
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| photo courtesy of Paul Badde/EWTN |
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| photo courtesy of Paul Badde/EWTN |
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