Monthly Archives: June 2017

Seeing God’s Face in Today’s World

How does this happen?

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see the face of God.” (Mt. 5:8) However, when Moses asked God to show him his glory, God said, “I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord in your presence…But you cannot see my face, for no one may see my face and live.” (Ex.33:19-20) Yet, when Phillip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father, Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

What does it mean to be pure in heart? Is it to be holy as God is holy, to seek the truth in all things, to seek to do what is right and be righteous, to seek not to sin, though the Bible says we are all sinners? Is it to be like Jesus?

Thomas A Kempis wrote a book entitled, The Imitation of Christ, in which he offers over 250 pages of counsel and meditations on growing in the presence and likeness of Christ.

St. Gregory of Nyssa said, “When the mist of sin no longer clouds the eye of your soul, you see the blessed vision clearly in the peace and purity of your own heart.” Jesus seems to confirm this when he says the kingdom of God is within you. He also says that what determines whether a person is clean is not what goes into his mouth, but what comes out of his mouth, “for the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart.” (Luke 17:21; Mt. 15:11)

The psalmist says, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” (Psalm24:3-4)

Mother Theresa said she saw the face of Jesus in the poor and dying that her homes served in Calcutta.

In the last few years I have had the privilege of serving on the Board of an organization that raises funds to support children with developmental disabilities and the establishment of special education programs in the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Arlington. Among the characteristics common to these children are joy, simplicity and purity of heart. Whenever I look at their big beautiful smiles, I see the face of God.

In most of these programs, the schools invite students from the general student body to serve as peer mentors to the students with disabilities. Many of these peer mentors speak of the blessings that flow from their association with the students with special needs. It seems that their joy and purity of heart have inspired several peer mentors to take up careers in special education.

Would that we all exhibit similar joy and purity of heart, so that we might inspire others to serve the needs of God’s creation and kingdom.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit with me.” (Psalm 51:10)

What the Centurion’s Faith Means to Us

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The gospels are filled with stories of Jesus personally healing people of all kinds of illnesses and casting out demons. Early in Luke’s gospel after going to Simon Peter’s house and healing Peter’s mother-in-law, Luke reports, “the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.” (Luke 4:40)

Later, after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus entered Capernaum and a centurion came to him to ask for help in connection with a servant who was paralyzed and suffering. When Jesus said he would go and heal him, the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” He went on to explain that he was a man subject to authority with soldiers subject to him. He said, “I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and I say to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:1-10)

Jesus was astonished at the centurion’s faith and because of it, healed his servant from a distance without personally laying hands on him.

Jesus was demonstrating that the power of God’s Spirit could heal on his word without the need for him to be physically present for the laying on of his hands. John’s gospel reports a similar incident where Jesus heals the son of a royal official from a distance. (John 4:44-53)

It is a great consolation to all Christians that God’s Holy Spirit is able to heal without Jesus’ physical presence. Let me illustrate with a story.

When our daughter Emily was born, she was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a serious heart condition known as an A-V canal – holes in her heart between her auricles and ventricles. Three different pediatric cardiologists examined her and concluded she needed early surgery to repair these holes in her heart.

On the weekend before her scheduled surgery, some close friends came to our house to pray for healing for Emily. A few days later, Emily was admitted to Washington’s Children’s Hospital for a pre-op cardiac catheterization with the surgery to follow. After completing the catheterization, the cardiologist came bounding into the room where my wife was waiting and joyfully exclaimed, “Mrs. Dalgetty, I have GLORIOUS news! There is no hole between her ventricles, and the hole between her auricles can wait to be repaired when she is older and stronger.

My wife asked how this could be and he said, “It’s a miracle.”

After he left the room, my wife randomly opened her Bible and her eyes fell upon Jeramiah 32:26-27, “See I am the Lord, the God of all mankind; is anything impossible to me?”

Right after Emily’s fourth birthday she had surgery to repair the hole between the auricles and she came through the ICU and release from the hospital much faster than expected. Today, she is 31 and works every day at a bakery and catering business. Her joyful spirit has brought many blessings to our family and friends.

“Only say the word and my servant will be healed.”

Multiplying Grace

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Are we multiplying the faith, spiritual gifts, personal talents and love we have received from God?

Jesus deals with this question through a parable reported in both the gospels of Matthew and Luke. (Mt. 25:14-30; Lk. 19:12-27) In each of these parables, a man goes on a journey and entrusts various sums of money to his servants. In Matthew’s account, two of the servants invest the money and double what was given to them. A third servant buried what was given to him.

When the master returned he sought an accounting from his servants. For the two servants who doubled what was given to them, the master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

To the third servant who buried the talent given him out of fear of his master, the master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?” Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

In the harshest of all of Jesus’ responses to sin and wrongdoing, he has the master saying, “Take the talent from him and give to the one who has ten talents. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This is a sobering message. We have a responsibility to utilize the talents, gifts and grace that God offers us. If we do, we have the opportunity to share in God’s joy and happiness. Failure to do so can result in them being taken away and our being separated from God.

God created us in his image and likeness, gave us varied gifts and talents, and assigned us the responsibility to take care of his creation. He became one of us in the person of Jesus and delegated to us the additional task to make disciples of all nations, giving us the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit to accomplish the task.

In all walks of life, whether athletics, schoolwork, employment, providing for our families and raising our children, the common expectation is that we should be diligent in doing the best we can. God’s expectation is no less when it comes to his call for us to bring his presence to the people and circumstances of our lives through our example and word.

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:10) May our prayer be to never experience the scarcity of God’s presence, as we multiply his love, blessings and grace.