We've Seen His Face

I was listening to the song We Have Been Told in the car this morning.  This is one of those songs that I can listen to a million times and still feel emotionally tackled!

The lyrics of the chorus, for those of you unfamiliar, are:

We have been told, we've seen His Face and heard His Voice alive in our hearts. "Live in My love, with all your heart.  As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you."

I always feel a flood of gratitude hearing these words.  I'm so thankful to have been given the blessing of knowing Jesus and being a part of the Catholic faith.  I'm so happy to know and feel the active love of God in my life - to know that He's not just a guy in the sky sitting on a cloud somewhere uncaring about the adventures of humanity.  No - I know and feel His Presence surrounding everything I do.  I really do.

Anyway, as I was listening to the song this morning, something my friend had said about a year and a half ago came to mind.  She and I were discussing her 'falling away' from Catholicism and my steadfast adherence to it.

Both of us attended the same grade school from kinder through 8th.  Both of her parents are staunch Catholics and are highly active in parish ministries.  My mother, too, fits that description.  We both attended Catholic high schools and universities (hers being more Catholic than either of mine, I think).  So we found it interesting that we took such different paths considering our similar foundations. 

Anyway, as I've always said, though I left the Catholic Church for a while, I never "left the faith."  I've always believed in Catholic dogma, I've always felt the active Presence of God in my life, and I've always relied on the Blessed Mother and saints to guide me in whatever trials I faced.  I've never once gone, "Well what if Jesus didn't really exist?  What if Heaven is a lie and after death nothing happens?"

Nope - even in my "New Age" phase (8th grade through HS, I guess?), while I was reading books on Buddhism, psychics and past-life experiences, I would attempt to make sense of them through Catholicism.

I would think, "Oh, maybe reincarnation IS what Catholics mean by Purgatory.  After all, Earth, itself, could be the place of cleansing since it's where a soul perfects itself through life lessons, right?"

Or, "Well of COURSE God grants some people special gifts like clairvoyance or fortune telling.  Maybe it's His way of reaching others who need "proof" of His existence in one form or another."

Seriously - when presented with a radically different theology or new-age theory, I'd immediately attempt to fit it into my Catholic paradigm because I fully understood and believed Catholicism to be the surpreme theology of God, Himself.  Catholicism is Truth, and though I may not have fully understood all its Truths, I trusted that if given enough time and grace, I could make sense of it all.  (I still do, truthfully - ha!). 

She, on the other hand, doesn't have that same intrinsic "certainty" I do.  She commented on this and suggested it was the reason we took such different paths.  Honestly, that was the moment I really understood what a gift my faith was.  When she spoke aloud the echo of the thoughts in my heart, I knew my love for and faith in Catholicism was, indeed, a true gift.

So as I was thinking about that this morning, another thought popped into my mind.  I should say "prayer" really.  It was more a prayer than a thought. 

Anyway, the prayer-thought was:

Thank you, God, for the blessing of seeing Your Face and feeling Your Love in my life.  I understand that this gift is not only meant for me - it is meant to be a vehicle for Your Divine Providence.  Make me a reflection of Yourself so that I can bear Your Face to others that they, too, might see You, love You and feel Your Love in their lives.

Just as I completed that thought I pulled into work and scribbled down the above thought-prayer because I truly wanted to share it with others.  I especially wanted to post it on my wall so I could be reminded of my duty as a Catholic Christian.  My calling is to bear the Face of God to all people, regardless of who they are or what they believe.  My directive is to be charitable, patient, merciful and kind.  I fail miserably at these things on a regular basis, so to have a prayer calling this mission to mind is important.

May all of us who have come to see the Face of God be true reflections of His Mercy and Love.

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