THE FACE OF CHRIST- SATURDAY

The disfigured face of Christ reveals to us the state of the human heart. Nonetheless – even though the blows were able to disfigure His Face and the flogging he received in His Head caused a hemorrhage of blood in His eyes – sin was not capable of changing the expression of His countenance.  

His flesh and his appearance were marred – nose out of joint, forehead with open wounds, lips burst open, cheeks purple – yet His countenance represented the love in His Heart:  serene, prayerful, patient, humble, obedient, meek. 

Sin did not touch His Heart, and His eyes were able to reveal it.  His eyes, like bright lamps, shone powerfully in the midst of the darkness of sin that disfigured His face, manifesting the light of love that was never extinguished in His Heart – regardless of the horror that our sin brought upon Him. 

 To contemplate the Face of Jesus is to contemplate His Heart – the most intimate of part His Heart that is manifested in His Face.  In an inspiration the Lord showed me His disfigured and suffering Face, but with eyes full of such serenity that it transmitted strength.  In the midst of suffering and great pain, His Heart remained fixed on Love and that was His strength and His serenity.

The Face of Christ in the Face of the Church, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins (Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints)

Images: Top- Cimabue, Pisa, Italy (d. 1302)

             Bottom- Dieric Bouts - Netherlands (d. 1475)