Gazing Upon the Face of Love

Third Sunday of Easter - Year B

After Jesus’s Resurrection and Ascension, and Pentecost, we see St. Peter engage in 3 sermons. These are public exhortations wherein he calls to task first every person in Jerusalem, then all of Israel, and then the Sanhedrin. He calls them to task for crucifying Jesus Christ, showing them that they are culpable for this sin, even if they didn’t have full knowledge that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

Yet, Peter’s admonition isn’t condemnatory. Instead, it is exhortative. He calls them to repentance that they might embrace faith in Jesus Christ, be baptized into His new and eternal Covenant, and receive the gift of salvation. In Peter’s own words, “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,” (Acts 3:19).

Peter’s entreaty isn’t just for those who lived 2000 years ago. His words are as prevalent for us as they were for Israel. We were made for a life of happiness. It is our souls’ deepest longing. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us in his Summa Theologiae that, “man's last end is happiness; which all men desire.” It is the misplaced pursuit of this happiness that compels us to seek wealth, pleasure, power, or honor.

The wisest of us know that these false happinesses never satisfy. They are temporary, they are pleasing, but they destroy us in the end. Many are the men who have fervently sought them, only to find themselves empty, depressed, and even feeling dead inside. In light of this, David reminds us that our happiness is only to be found in seeking the face of God: “O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us! You put gladness into my heart,” (Psalm 4:6-7).

This language of the face of God seems odd to us today, but we understand this colloquialism. To gaze upon the face of someone is to express deep love for them. What the Scriptures are trying to tell us is that we are only happy when we are deeply in love with God - the one who loves us INFINITELY more! The council fathers tell us that, “Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God ‘face to face,’ ‘as he is’” (CCC 163). 

In other words, we are only truly happy when we are deeply in love with God. And that love overflows into every facet of our life and being. We turn from sin not because we have a God who is limiting, but because we are indescribably in love with a God who is boundlessly in love with us! We experience this happiness on earth as a foretaste of our eternal Heavenly happiness! So our faith is already the beginning of our eternal life!

This is why “[Christ] is expiation for our sins,” (1 John 2:3). Our sins keep us away from the face of God, and because God wants us to be happy, He Himself removes the obstacle that prevents us from coming to Him! This is also why Christ constantly seeks to open our minds to understanding the Scriptures! (cf. Luke 24:45) Why? Because when we contemplate the blessings of our Father in the Scriptures, we begin to possess the magnificent love and happiness which He assures us we shall one day enjoy for eternity.

This is why, our Faith is our happiness! Because "Faith is a beam radiating from the face of God." - St. John Eudes. Onward to happiness, beloved brothers and sisters.

Deus Benedicat