Image

 

Image 

When I was blessed to visit Fatima several years ago there were many touchstones of our Faith that captured my heart and attention.  One of those was the face of Jesus on the crucifix behind the main altar of The Holy Trinity Basilica.  The face of the large bronze figure was designed by using  computer to overlay pictures of people from all over the world.  That face of Jesus shows the reality that Jesus came that we would all be one in him.  It has me pondering what it means to be created in the image of God?        

“Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. . . God created mankind in his image; in the image of God, he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27  It seems difficult to think that this verse means literally that we look like God, especially with the person-to-person variety that we have all witnessed in our own life experience.

True that St. Paul describes Jesus as face of God.  He is the image of the invisible God”, Colossians 1:15.  But, I think what Paul is leading us to consider is that in the human nature of Jesus the people of his time here on earth did have the privilege of being able to see, touch, feel, and hear someone that we have come to appreciate also has a Divine Nature.  By choosing to come to us as one of us, Jesus’ physical presence made the experience of God a tangible reality.  St John captures this same sentiment: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us.” 1John1:1-2

We know that even if we look to relics like the Shroud of Turin to help us see the face that Mary saw, that was the face that God chose in that moment.  It is not the definitive and eternal face of God.  Again, St John points to the reality that with God, even with the face of God, there is always more, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1John3:2  

There are other realities, more important realities, beyond the physical of what it means to be created in the image of God.  Let’s turn again to St John as he reveals God’s nature to us: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.  Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.” 1John4:7-8  Each of us has the need and capacity for love.  Surely in the animal kingdom we see examples where the instinct to care for another is present, most typically in a mother/offspring relationship.  But nature only shows the powerful drive that each species has to continue the species.  It is a dependent relationship that we see played out, albeit many times quite heartwarming for us to witness.  Nature has no example to offer of sacrificial love simply for the sake of the other, which is the unconditional love that Jesus demonstrated on the cross.

We have the ability to explore and understand the working of our natural world.  Such knowledge has then further led to many advancements in quality of life.  Quality of life goes well beyond better nutrition and improved work efficiencies.  We balance our existence with appreciation for arts, music and literature where we dream and create.  All these are elements of the image of God.

The picture above is an image of an image.  It is the reflection of my granddaughter in a mirror.  I pray that she sees more than her own physical image.  I pray that she dares to imagine how she images God in this world and lives her life in such a way as to underscore that insight.  I pray that she learns, dreams, and loves with intentionality of sharing God’s own image with her world and everyone in it. Because it is in the way that we share in, and share of, the image of God that leads us to the ultimate dream – to dare to imagine, to dare to dream, to dare to seek, and to dare to find a relationship with our Creator.  For, He has carved his image on our hearts and our minds, so that we can each discover that God craves just such a relationship with us.

His Peace <><

Deacon Dan