By Carolyn Brock of Redmond, Oregon USA

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Her soft brown eyes were lovely but held immense depths of suffering. When the gray rag covering the left side of her face was removed, we could see that most of it had been eaten away by cancer. She met my gaze in a moment of sad recognition that the doctors, nurses, and dentists in this volunteer clinic in Honduras could likely do little to spare her from her fate.

I have encountered human suffering far too many times in far too many places. It is ubiquitous, universal, unwanted, undeserved. At the heart of the divine mystery, God chooses to dwell in the precious fragility of flesh and matter, in the astounding diversity of creation’s faces and forms. In the co-mingled realities of our sacred beauty and anguished suffering, there is One who inhabits and holds us.

French priest and paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), was in love with matter as a vessel of spirit. He passionately pursued Spirit as the interior reality of existence. As a medic he cared for wounded and dying soldiers on the battlefields of World War I. One day while prayerfully gazing at a painting of the face of Christ, he began to see the edges melding with the surrounding world. In Hymn of the Universe, de Chardin says the encounter deepened until he was drawn into an “indescribable shimmer of iridescence, all the radiant hues of all our modes of beauty…gathered up in a final indecipherable expression of indescribable agony mingled with superabundance of triumphant joy” in Christ’s eyes. Teilhard witnessed that indistinguishable expression only one other time in the eyes of a dying soldier.

God’s mystery is revealed in radiant light shining through the eyes of Jesus, in his wholeness-producing gaze penetrating our brokenness. The flame of Spirit at our core is ignited as we carry this Christ mystery into the world, in our eyes and faces, hands and hearts.

Prayer Phrase

“Do not be afraid, for I am your God…” (Isaiah 41:10).

Voices of God

What is the voice of God saying to us? Do we hear the whispers of God’s longing for shalom; God’s dream of beauty and wholeness for all creation? Do we hear the “voice” of God calling to us in faces and eyes, in the sounds of suffering and joy, in scripture and sacred word, in tears and laughter, in silence and noise? Spend a few moments reflecting on when and how God’s voice speaks to you. When did you first feel called to join God in the pursuit of peace and justice? How does the call of shalom continue to come to you through the many “voices” of God?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.