257th Meditation
“Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed” (Ps 34:4).
When we always try to raise our eyes to the Father, our whole life is illuminated and transfigured by His light. Life becomes transparent, because when we live consciously under the gaze of our Father, nothing impure can resist. St. Benedict urged his monks to live always in the awareness of God’s presence.
If our relationship with God is marked by the trust He deserves and invites us to, then our heart rejoices to live under His gaze and delights in being in constant dialogue with Him. Haven’t we seen how little children love to play in the presence of their parents and are always watching to see if their parents are paying attention to them? When they perceive the loving gaze of their parents, their face is radiant with joy.
It is the same in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, whose gaze is always on us. He is constantly concerned with us, seeking to bring our lives into conformity with His plans of salvation.
When parents notice that their young child is exposing himself or herself to danger, it often only takes a small call or a brief glance to get the child out of harm’s way. The more intimate the relationship, the easier it is for the child to correct his or her ways. Often it is enough to see the expression on the parents’ faces to see whether or not they like what they are doing.
Here is a very illustrative example that shows us what also happens in the relationship with our Heavenly Father. The more closely we are united to Him and look up to Him, the easier it is for us to be corrected by Him when we stray even in the slightest way from the path. If the spirit of piety fills us, we will not only look up to Him to see what might displease Him, but above all to recognise what pleases Him and how we can be a cause of joy to Him.
No, our face need not be ashamed to look at the Father. He has forgiven all our sins through His Son and always lifts us up again when we fail.
And if we ever lose sight of our Father and have wandered away, we hear these words of comfort that He addresses to us in the Message to Mother Eugenia:
“If, because of ignorance or weakness, you yourselves happen to fall again into this state of bitterness, I shall still be an ocean of charity, ready to receive this bitter drop, transform it into charity and goodness and make you holy as I, your Father, am.”