Behold His Face: They Shall Look On Him Whom They Have Pierced

As a special reflection for this Holy Week, we chose a reading from Fr., Thomas Acklin‘s book “The Passion of the Lamb.”  In particular we reflected on the chapter entitled “Behold His Face.” As one participant in tonight‘s group stated: “This reflection is a gem!”  I agree. It is a rarest of gems and I’m grateful to Fr. Tom for writing it and the entire book. While small, it has had an incalculable effect upon me and I hope for all who listen to this podcast. 

What Fr. Tom seeks to do is to open our minds and our hearts to the truth revealed in the Passion of Christ. So often we approach this mystery bound by the limits of our reason and our sin. Fr. Tom challenges us to allow ourselves to be guided and drawn into the mystery by faith; to comprehend what God has revealed to us and what is beyond the measure of man’s mind. 

Many Christians throughout the centuries have struggled with the mystery of the Cross and the reality of our Lord’s suffering. Theologically, the human mind, almost in a form of resistance, intellectually and spiritually, tries to hold on to the notion of God being impassible. We are comfortable with notions of God being all powerful and all knowing. What we have trouble understanding and what we are often unwilling to embrace is the reality of a God who is Omni-kenotic and Omni-vulnerable. What Fr. Tom wants us to reflect upon is a God in whom we see and attribute not human deficiencies and sinfulness, hatred, ignorance, or illness. Rather, he wants us to contemplate and attribute to God in an infinite and perfect way the good qualities that we have in a finite and even deficient way. Thus, Fr. Tom says, rather than being impassible, incapable of feeling or having passion as we do as human beings, it would be more accurate to say that not only Christ but all three persons of the Trinity are infinitely caring, infinitely affected by us; Omni-passible. To believe such a thing is to understand that “at the height of his agony, he could see, not only the people who stood before him, jeering or weeping, but all the people of all time. He saw us in our loving and in our refusing to love, our sinning and our repenting. At the same eternal moment, he took on all the moments of every life and death. He could be the infinite love of God in person to each human being who ever lived, and who will ever live.” 

May God bless us this Holy Week with the gift of faith to see this love, this perfect vulnerability, even in the smallest measure.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:05:42 FrDavid Abernethy: https://mcusercontent.com/c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df/files/679d1720-7a17-e9b4-7355-2bd4ae5431fd/Behold_His_Face_Booklet.pdf

 

00:14:52 Cath Lamb: I don't have microphone or camera 😊

 

00:18:31 Rebecca Thérèse: England

 

00:18:36 CathyQ: Canadian too!

 

00:18:41 Kristen's I Phone: Alberta Canada!

 

00:18:59 Michael: Pittsburgh!

 

00:19:07 michele: Buffalo ny

 

00:19:09 Cath Lamb: Colorado USA

 

00:19:10 kevin: BOSTON

 

00:19:16 James Moran: Appleton WI

 

00:39:47 Michael: Shroud of Turin video

https://www.youtube.com/live/HAbuG-oVq1Q?feature=share

 

00:43:25 CathyQ: Reacted to "Shroud of Turin vide..." with ❤️

 

01:44:49 Sean: Hi Father, I think (from what I have seen) that a problem might be people seeing heaven in the future rather than deification as a reality we can begin to participate in here and now. ☦️

 

01:44:49 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂

 

01:45:53 Kristen's I Phone: Reacted to "Shroud of Turin vide…" with ❤️

 

01:47:30 sheri: Thank you.  Good night.

 

01:47:40 Patricia: Thank You!

 

01:47:46 Michael: Thank you Fr

 

01:48:04 Kristen's I Phone: Thank you!

 

01:48:12 michele: Thank you

 

01:48:53 kevin: beautiful talk excellent ,  thank you for sharing Father

 

01:49:08 David Fraley: Thank you, Father David.

 

01:49:09 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Fr. Tom needs our +prayers.. He's sick.

 

01:49:28 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Long term problem

 

01:49:34 Patricia: Do you know Fr. Justin?