St Peter’s Basilica Statuary, taken by Martha Wiggins, 2011
“My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, LORD, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me …” Psalm 27: 8-9
When did you last see Jesus? Did you recognize Him right away? Did you allow His image to imprint your soul? Did seeing Him make a difference?
Jesus wants and expects us to see Him in others, especially the poor, the downtrodden, and the oppressed. When Jesus shows Himself to us He desires something from us in the way of prayer, witness, or action.
Often we catch a glimpse of Jesus and simply continue on our way. We are either too busy or too uncomfortable to be truly moved out of our comfort zone. If it is an ‘awe’ moment we may embrace it, and pray about it. If it is an ‘aha’ moment we may spend time pondering it, and say, yes I get it. But do we move? Do we allow the sight of Jesus to motivate us to act on His behalf? Or do we sit silent, hide behind social correctness, or even run away.
In his book, “A Revolution of Love, The Meaning of Mother Teresa,” David Scott writes about how Mother Teresa saw, and taught us to meet, Jesus in the poor. “In the poor, she believed, we meet Jesus -not a reminder of Jesus, not a symbol of Jesus, but Jesus himself, face-to-face, hungering for our love, thirsting for our kindness, waiting to be clothed by our compassion.”
Scott continues by relating a time when Mother Teresa was once approached by a highborn Hindu woman who desired to help the poor, but had a weakness for buying very expensive saris for herself. The one she wore that particular day cost 800 rupees. “Recounting the story, Mother Teresa said she prayed silently to the Virgin Mary, seeking the right words with which to respond to the woman. Finally, she told her, ‘Next time, when you go to buy a sari, instead of buying a sari of 800 rupees, you buy a sari of 500 rupees, and with the remaining 300 you buy saris for the poor people.’ Thus began one very wealthy woman’s journey to the poor. Soon she was buying herself saris worth only 100 rupees and giving to the poor more and more of her money, time, and possessions.”
In Mother Teresa we find a very simple woman who saw Jesus. She saw Him in the faces of the poor and allowed it to imprint her soul. Seeing Him made a difference in her life, and the lives of many of the poorest of the poor. By her example she also taught us how to recognize Jesus when He is right in front of us. Like the highborn Indian woman, we may need some time to grow into His image and likeness through our actions. We may need to start out with small steps, but like her, will soon find ourselves right in the heart of the action. We will have seen Jesus, recognized Him, allowed His image to imprint our soul, and then let Him make a difference in our life, and the lives of those we reach out to in His Name.
Seek His face; He will not hide it from you.
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I have great admiration for Mother Teresa and all who dedicate their lives to help the poor. In Mathew 25, the Lord Jesus Himself identifies Himself with the oppressed and the poor to such an extent, that in verse 40, He said, “Verily I say unto you, in as much as you have done it (feed, clothe, visit, etc.) unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me.” (King James Version)
I feel the same identification with the persecuted (especially Christians and Jews), is inherent in the same passage. With everything going on in the world today, Christians here could conceivably be headed for a bumpy ride. The underground church needs our help, especially our prayers.
It truly begins with each one of us, Walter. Thank you for sharing your thoughts here on the website. Blessings, Martha