Dear Parishioners and Friends,

During the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor the face of Jesus shone with the brightness of the sun. The sun gives light, gives life, and energy. When Jesus face began to shine like the sun, the apostles fell prostrate. When His face was raised, they covered their own faces, but later when they raised their eyes, they were not afraid anymore, but did not see anyone except Jesus.

The face of the man is the screen display of the soul. Everything on the inside is revealed to the outside. This is a part of the body that is uncovered, and yet we try to hide it the most. Even on our hands we wear gloves, but on the face, we do not wear anything. It needs to be exposed and this is problematic to us because others can see everything on it which we try to hide, even from our own consciences. Everything is there: feelings, thoughts, and even the spirit that governs us. It is revealed in the eyes, mouth, muscle, eyebrows and colors of cheeks. The enslaved man runs out of sight or looks insolently. His face is tense and strained, evoking stress in others, as well as fear, pity and disgust.

Most of us have some enslaving addictions. Starting from work-a-holism, smoking, alcohol and drug addiction, watching movies, running away to the virtual world, overeating, shopping, pornography, masturbation, erotomania, emotional dependence, addiction to cellphones or even mp3 players, etc. These addictions lead to lies and narcissistic needs to earn admiration, culminating in the creation of a false image, and mask.  In the 1970s there was talk about alcoholism, in the 80s-drug addiction surged, in the 90s bulimia and anorexia exploded, and now we are surrounded by erotomania and virtual sex, but sometime in the future, probably soon, we’ll find out about a new obsessive self-absorption, that will make the human face obscured.

Christ reveals His face, so that when we look at Him, we can see our own face without fear. We need Divine revelation, to recover our own faces. Finding our own powerlessness helps in the discovery of the omnipotence of God. We do not need to search for anything else when we have Him who found us. After a stunning revelation of Jesus face, the disciples raised their dirty faces from the ground. Raising up our faces from the ground without fear after the fall: this is the secret dream of every one of us. To be no longer ashamed of ourselves.  Jesus allows us to raise our heads, maybe not with pride, but with dignity. When He says to the Apostles: “rise and do not be afraid”, it sounds like a proclamation of freedom dedicated to the whole human race. May the Lord give us all this grace.

God Bless You!