Gazing on the Face of Christ

As I write on this last full day of retreat, I share some reflections on the overall theme being presented: gazing on the face of Christ.  As I said, we began with a depiction of Caravaggio's 'Calling of Matthew'.  Matthew is seen gazing into the face of Christ, and his expression has become radiant at what he saw.

The message is for us to gaze frequently at the face of Chrisr as well.  And what we see will change according to our needs, our circumstances, our lives at that moment.  As a result, Fr. Ryan is giving us different images of the Face we might gaze upon when we turn to Jesus.

So far, we have been given for our meditation Christ as Friend, Christ as the Healing Presence of God, Christ as the Caller of Disciples, Christ as Teacher, Christ as the Bread of Life, and Christ as Priest.  We have one more session this afternoon to reflect on: Christ as Prince of Peace.

Just a brief notation on each:
Christ as Friend.  The image of the vine and the branches suggests that the more time we spend with Jesus, the deeper our friendship with him, and the more readily we turn to him as a companion on our journey.
Christ as the Healing Presence of God.  Jesus' healing of the leper shows Jesus sharing his humanity with the sick man, blending the holy and the unholy.  Bringing life out of death is God's primary concern, even when we cannot see how He can accomplish that.
Christ the Caller of Disciples.  Disciples often referred to in the Gospels as people of 'little faith'.  We often read that as people of 'no faith'.  But they were believers, just prone to fear and anxiety.  Aren't we all.  Believers/disciples, by our very nature, are followers - followers of Jesus.  He calls us to follow - even as people of little faith.
Christ the Teacher.  Disciples are always learners.  We must continually allow ourselves to be evangelized.  We never have it 'all figured out'.
Christ the Bread of Life.  The Eucharist is the sacrament of communion.  The Eucharist makes the church, which is why we place such great importance upon it.  Our Church is founded on a vision of relationship and hospitality.  In a word, communion - with one another and with God.  And that word - communion - is a verb as well as a noun.  It is a call to action, a call to achieve unity.
Chrsit as Priest.  Two (of many) dimensions of Christ's priesthood are compassion and intercession.  Christ prays for us.  Christ prays in us.  And Christ is prayed to, by us.  God always expects the 'why' questions when bad things happen to good people.  And He listens to them, and responds from the Cross.  Therefore, those isolated by suffering are no longer suffering alone.  Someone walks with us and prays for us: Jesus.

Obviously there is alot behind each of these, and much more food for thought as well.  A good retreat so far.  More to come.