His Holy Face
A face to face encounter encourages real relationships; it is how we recognize one another but the coronavirus is making us hide our faces. The Face of God is emphasized in Isiah, the Psalms, and when Moses is in the tent. Moses’ Intimacy with God was rooted in a face to face encounter:
The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a person speaks to a friend (Exodus 33:11).
Also consider the fact that the Lord has inspired sacred artists to paint icons of His Face. The Lord wishes us to gaze upon His Holy Face. If we can still do that in adoration we should. If not, we should have an icon or painting in our home of His Holy Face to pray in front of. His Face promotes unity. It is the Face Angels look upon perpetually. It is the Face that Saint John knew and it made him Beloved.
His Holy Name
There is an entire theology of the Name in Scripture. Jesus repeats in John 17 that His name means God Saves. The Name is His mission. The name expresses His essence. The earliest Holy Monks learned the Jesus prayer in order to make perpetual interior activity because they understood the mind is the battleground and the power of the Name. Demons bow before this name.
The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the prayer is not lost by heaping up empty phrases, but holds fast to the word and “brings forth fruit with patience.”This prayer is possible “at all times” because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus (CCC 2668).
Yet, here we are in our society and how many times do we use this name breaking the second commandment. We watch movies and listen to songs that hurl His name as a curse. We must confess if we use this name in vain.
When the devil comes prowling, rebuke him in the Holy Name of Jesus. You have the authority. A name is also relational. It is Satan who wants us numbered with the mark of the beast. Remember in scripture every time there was an act of census, or numbering the people, it was a sign of punishment in the Covenant. How many of us have sat around with fear and anxiety growing to count the number of coronavirus cases and deaths when instead we should be invoking the Holy Name of Jesus who can crush this virus.
His Word
Remain in His Word. God’s Word is alive. God’s Word does what it says. Thoughts are made flesh, incarnate, by using words. Hebrews Chapter 4 tells us of the awesome power of God’s Word. His word is in Scripture, but it also resides in us and is sent out to souls everywhere. God’s creative power is unleashed by His Word. Logos.
The Father’s self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: “God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church – and through her in the world – leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness.”(CCC 79)
These Words of God come to each and every living soul as Words of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding. They are gifts the Holy Spirit puts into action when our hearts are open. His Word can exorcise demons; the Gospel of John 1:1-14 is read in the Exorcism Rite.
In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him, nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it . . . And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth ( Vatican II Rite of Exocrism).
Yet we get careless with our words. We invoke curses on our fellow man without even knowing what we’re doing, but the devil loves this. As I peruse the dialogue about Coronavirus the judgment, the hatred, the idolatry, I see it everywhere. The Gospel of Matthew tells us we will be taken to account for every careless word that comes out of our mouths. So we would all do well to pause before we speak. I know I want to bless and not curse when I speak.
His Light
Remain in His Light. Saint John tells us so much about the relationship between light and fellowship.
through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God.e7He came for testimony,*to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world (John 1:4-9).
The Greek term is Koinonia. Both in John’s Gospel and his First Epistle we can read about remaining in the Light of God and when we are in communion with one another, it produces Light. When we are in communion with God we are standing in His glory which is an absolute radiant light. Jesus is the Light of the World. Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel why some people cannot stand being in the Light and it is because their actions are not Godly and are rooted in darkness. The word for Glory in Hebrew is the same as “weight,” meaning something so dense it becomes heavy. Glory is therefore a condensed and compact gathering of Light that is unfathomably intense because it is so perfectly united. That is where the Blessed Trinity abides. When we stand in the light we are standing before the Throne of God. This Light has a binding double effect; it is what makes us Children of God and what makes us attached to him (FILIA).
In our society today I would venture to say we can all feel a weight, a heaviness of sin, the darkness which weighs us down when exposed to the Light. You can feel it. And it is here Our Lady steps in on our behalf, with rays of light extended from her hands waiting to pour over us in the darkness. Consecration to Our Lady and her Most Chaste Spouse, Saint Joseph, who resides in the Light, will help us remain in the Light. The woman clothed in the Sun wants to bring us all there to her Son the source of Light.
His Truth
Remain in His Truth.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me ( John 14:6).
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate* to be with you always,the Spirit of truth,* which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you ( John 14:16,17).
[14:17] The Spirit of truth: this term is also used at Qumran, where it is a moral force put into a person by God, as opposed to the spirit of perversity. It is more personal in John; it will teach the realities of the new order (Jn 14:26), and testify to the truth (Jn 14:6) (USCB).
To remain in Truth is to witness (testify) by our being and our actions. We stand in the truth of who we are and how we live. In Chapter 3 of Saint John’s Gospel we are told we witness to the Truth through righteous acts.
whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God ( John 3:21).
We are just, like Saint Joseph. We do the right thing and take the right step in action. We use the right words. The righteous are not afraid because they stand in Truth with childlike confidence that they are doing the Father’s Will and putting it into action. Thoughts made incarnate by words, words made incarnate by actions. The flow of Righteousness for those living in union with the will of God. They are standing in Truth. The “fruit” is freedom, peace, joy, and yes unity.
Evil works seek to remain hidden in darkness, a place of shame.
And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed (John 3:19,20).
Jesus summarizes the whole relationship of doing the works of the Father by saying all glory comes from the Father in Heaven who sent Him. He tells Pilate He came to Witness to the Truth. True Glory comes from God alone. There is a truth of who you are in Christ, are you a witness to who you are? Or are you trying to live “your truth” which is different from God’s Truth? When we seek truth apart from the one who is true, we only serve the kingdom of Satan.
These five things will help navigate this storm we are all in. You will note, that these can be practiced independently of the Sacraments because, in God’s merciful providence, He knew when we would not have access to them. He knew there may be a time when they were removed or even hidden away. How many times in our past did our ancestors have to hide and learn how to remain in Him even in the absence of the Sacraments. The book of Daniel and Revelation speak of this. But our good and merciful God has given us means to stay with Him in the absence of Sacrament.
As we get ready to go back to Mass let us not forget that the Mass is a prayer and to pray with all of our hearts in reverent worship of our good and merciful God.
I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. John 17: 14-17
