All Could See His Face

Gospel Reflection for August 3, 2023

Today, I will focus on the first reading:

Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.
On the first day of the first month of the second year
the Dwelling was erected.
It was Moses who erected the Dwelling.
He placed its pedestals, set up its boards, put in its bars,
and set up its columns.
He spread the tent over the Dwelling
and put the covering on top of the tent,
as the LORD had commanded him.
He took the commandments and put them in the ark;
he placed poles alongside the ark and set the propitiatory upon it.
He brought the ark into the Dwelling and hung the curtain veil,
thus screening off the ark of the commandments,
as the LORD had commanded him.

Then the cloud covered the meeting tent,
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
Moses could not enter the meeting tent,
because the cloud settled down upon it
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling,
the children of Israel would set out on their journey.
But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward;
only when it lifted did they go forward.
In the daytime the cloud of the LORD was seen over the Dwelling;
whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud
by the whole house of Israel
in all the stages of their journey.

- Ex 40:16-21, 34-38

What a contrast this is with the earthly ministry of Jesus. In the time of Moses, God appeared in a dense cloud. No man could see the face of God and live! Even in Solomon’s Temple, the presence of God was a cloud so dense that the priests had to leave the building and once settled, there was still a division between the Holy of Holys where the Ark of the Covenant was placed and the Levitical Priests. Even the holiest of God’s chosen people could not see God. Further, the priests had to perform elaborate ritual cleansing ceremonies, wear special garments and say special prayers to serve in the Temple.

Now imagine Jesus, the Living God, in the marketplaces and wherever there were common people. All could approach Him. All could see His face. No cleansing or rituals were required. There was no separation. Jesus put asunder the Mosaic Law and destroyed the Temple through His simple, humble compassion. He destroyed it by His life and death, and raised up a New Temple, and New Covenant and a perfected religion on the third day. All that was had passed. In the new religion of Christianity, there would be no separation and we would be free from Torah Law and even death itself.

Today, I urge you to view the Face of Jesus as preserved in the cloth with which Saint Veronica wiped our Lord’s face on His way to the Crucifixion and the Shroud of Turin. These are among the oldest and most holy relics of Christianity and have been preserved by the Catholic Church from the beginning. We, too, can look upon the holy Face of Jesus. We can see God and live. An excellent devotion is to the Holy Face of Jesus. Enroll in the Arch confraternity of The Holy Face of Jesus. Their website is www.martinians.org. They will send you a white scapular that bears the image of the Holy Face, a special cross with the same image and the prayers that are to be said.

catholictradition.org tells us:

An Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was established in Tours, France, 1884; its members make reparation for the blasphemies hurled at Christ. Since St. Therese's devotion to the Holy Face has become known, this devotion has spread worldwide.

In addition, a devout and pious nun, Sr. Pierina, who died in 1945, was given many visions through Our Blessed Lady who appeared to her, as did Our Lord Jesus. They urged her to make reparation for the many insults Jesus suffered in His Passion, such as to be slapped, spit upon and kissed by Judas, as well as now being dishonored in many ways in the Blessed Sacrament by neglect, sacrileges, and profanations.

Our Lord promised many blessings through devotion to His Holy Face. Some are personal, but most importantly He promised to save us from the evils of Atheism, Communism and the related ideologies that set the world on fire during the 20^th Century and still threaten to annihilate humanity through nuclear and biological war. Along with the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus should be a daily practice, and it only take a few minutes.

Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK

His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic