January 15, 2025

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

Psalm 42: My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God.

Back on the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, I had an inspiration. I began to think of the intense experience of an epiphany as seeing the face of God. On the Feast of the Epiphany, the Church celebrated the journey of the magi. As they were searching for the newborn Jesus, they truly found the face of God. That Epiphany celebrates the Lord’s love, mercy, and truth as the Lord Jesus came into our world. We find this love, mercy and truth when we look upon the face of God.

I believe that you and I, in fact, all people, experience epiphanies, intense experiences. In prayer, we seek God’s presence with us. We can say that we are seeking to look upon the face of God. These epiphanies are gifts from our God. I hope you remember and are always aware of these experiences in your life. I hope that you can say that you have seen the face of God. When we have such experiences, we talk about them all often – they are so meaningful that we want everyone to hear about them.

I know that I have told you about the most important epiphany in my life. It was that time when Susan and Paul invited me to accompany them at the time of the birth of their second child. I will never forget that day. I tell the story often. I remember so well that it was an evening filled with love. I know I recognized the presence of God every moment. Today I know that there is no other image for that evening for me; it was as if I was looking on the face of God. The whole experience was so overwhelming, what I would call transforming. It was the most exciting day of my life.

Now I encourage you to remember all those kinds of epiphanies in your life. I believe that they happen to each of us each day of our lives. Truly! And each time it is like looking on the face of God. I often stop at the parish school to visit the children. I always think of it as looking on the face of God. I am thinking now of the times when I am celebrating Mass and am distracted by the child in the front pew. Again it is a moment looking upon the face of God. So, each day has its powerful epiphanies. At the end of the day, it is a great moment to look back over the day and consider, how often did I look upon the face of God.

Let me extend this image. Each time we stop to pray, or each time with gather with others to pray, it is a time when we look upon the face of God. It is a time that transforms our prayers. At Mass, we begin our prayer by remembering to look on the face of God. Each time, we go to the altar, priest and people, for Eucharist, there is no better image than looking upon the face of God. Each time we receive Holy Communion, we are united with Our Savior. Again, I think of it as looking on the face of God. The Lord wants to be with us, to lead and guide us, to help us lead others to look upon the face of God.

The “face of God” is a rich image for the presence of God. We should think of the ace of God as inspiring hope and a call to holiness, guiding us to deeper intimacy with God and a compassionate love for others.