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April 28, 2022Could it be that God’s image has become so soiled and distorted that it is hard for us to see it? Our self-serving agendas have done a great job twisting God’s image into what profits us. We want our agenda to be God’s agenda and use prayer as the convincing leverage we need. Worse still, our success and egocentric agenda often erases God’s image completely, replacing it with our own. St. Oscar Romero instructs us that the Son of Man “dies on the cross to cleanse God’s image, which is soiled in today’s humanity, a humanity so enslaved, so selfish, so sinful.” Striving to preserve control of our destinies at all costs, we fail to see the risen suffering servant, the Christ, standing right beside us.
Jesus, who suffered and died on a cross and was raised from the dead, corrects our soiled image of God. He shows us God as God is, not who we want to make God to be. God is the God of the poor, the weak, and the marginalized. He is the God who tenderly caresses us when we are suffering and hurting, assuring us that all will be safe and well. He is the God of equity, peace, justice, and compassion who wants happiness for each of His children, desiring their wellbeing and success. God goes where men and women are afraid to go, sitting with the lost, the broken, and the sorrowing. St. Oscar Romero challenges us to illuminate with “Christ’s light … even the most hideous caverns of the human person: torture, jail, plunder, want, chronic illness. The oppressed must be saved.” The resurrection calls us to be God’s microphone, a messenger, and a prophet (St. Oscar Romero).
Using eyes that see beyond the limited constructs and desires of our world, we can see the true and real Jesus standing before us, calling us to transformation and change. Asking us more than once, “do you love me?” We are beckoned to give an answer. Answering in the affirmative, it is now our task to feed the sheep and the lambs who belong to God. In short, equipped with the power of the resurrection and a corrected image of God our task is to make things better, brighter, holier, more life-giving, and just for all of God’s children. Considering our choices, our interactions, our philosophies, and aspirations, how can we do this? ©LPi
