Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36
Key Verse: "With unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror." (2 Corinthians 3:18)
“I’ll see you on Zoom!” has become a norm nowadays. About a decade ago, one of the main concerns for our youth and young adults was that digital technologies were killing the art of face-to-face communication. Instead of hanging out and meeting in person, many preferred sending texts or emails. In the last two years, the pandemic has paralyzed our society as a whole. People started working remotely; educators redesigned their teaching pedagogies in order to provide online classes; restaurants restructured their services to ensure minimum contact; in-person gatherings of any scale were limited, restrained, or even avoided. Since having face time matters, relying on social media like Zoom seems to be the best option for many.
During this time, it is interesting to read the story about Moses having face time with God in Exodus 31-34. Actually, Moses couldn’t see God directly. God’s glory was too much for him to handle and would result in his death. After seeing Israelites running wild and building their own golden calf to worship, Moses was furious and broke the Ten Commandments tablets. Because of this, he had to go up to the mountain again and spent 40 days and 40 nights with God to make another set of tablets. Since God wrote the first stone tablets that Moses broke, HE made Moses write the second set of stone tablets. Both God and Moses were pretty angry.
Can we detect the anger in people’s facial expressions? Sure we can. So could Aaron and all the Israelites. They knew what they had done and were afraid to go near Moses. Plus, his face was glowing because of the reflection of God’s glory. In order to keep day-to-day ministries going, Moses had to put a veil on his face so that people wouldn't be frightened. St. Paul retold this story as a way to remind us that this veil had been removed by Jesus since he is a visible reflection of God’s glory. Through the life of Jesus, you and I are able to see God’s glory. If we look at Jesus’s life closely enough, we should notice two things: 1.) We certainly fall short of God’s glory; 2.) We can see what our discipleship efforts are missing.
In Luke 4 and 9, God declared that Jesus was His chosen and beloved Son and commended us to listen to him. And Jesus himself revealed his mission through the scripture from Isaiah which says that God’s spirit is upon him and anointed him to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to cure the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And Jesus did. He set us free from the chains of slavery to our sins as St. Paul said in Galentinas 5:1. St. Paul also warned us not to let the chains hold us back again.
How often have we been held back by the chains and forgotten that we are called to be the reflection of God’s love as I mentioned in my last podcast episode? Wherever I go, I like to seek any signs of peace first. For me, if there is peace, there is God’s love. If I can’t see it right away, I will try to find one. Sometimes, I am preoccupied with too many thoughts and emotions and forget to examine myself. Currently, I’m taking advantage of Zoom meetings. Before turning my camera on, I spend a few seconds preparing myself just to make sure that I’m ready to be present. Once I see myself in one of those squares, I remind myself that I fall short of God’s glory, but with God’s mercy and grace, I can be a sign of peace, too, and so can you. May you be a sign of peace wherever you go, or identify someone around you. And together, may God’s glory shine through us. Amen.
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