Did you know there are nine levels of prayer? Did you know that vocal prayer is the lowest level of prayer? I did not. But knowing this now helps explain why saints throughout the ages became saints. Saints such as St. Teresa of Avila, St. Margaret Mary, St. John of the Cross, and the apostles, they didn’t just pray vocal prayers, they meditated on the why and how of the Christian life. And they became fruitful.
Prayer is nothing else but union with God. – St. John Vianney
They contemplated the divine life. They contemplated being in close friendship with Jesus and his burning, divine love. The inner thoughts of their souls were fixed on seeing the face of Jesus in faith. They aced the faith by submitting to the promptings of the Spirit. And they received the goal of their faith, the salvation of their souls.
No man has ever seen God or known him, but God has revealed himself to us through faith, by which alone it is possible to see him. – From a letter to St. Diognetus
I learned about these “levels of prayer” by listening to Fr. Chad Ripperger’s discourse about prayer on YouTube. It has been quite an epiphany for me. Here is the video:
I have listened to Fr.’s discourse twice, taking notes. Another post will be dedicated to Fr. Ripperger’s discourse, but I thought it would be helpful to consider what does the New Testament say about the face of Jesus? According to my analysis, the New American translation mysteriously mentions the face of the Lord: nine (9) times.
Providence?
The face of the Lord is mentioned in the following NT scripture passages.
The Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-8 ; Luke 9:28-36)
The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:10-14)
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:57-68)
Integrity in the Ministry (2nd Corinthians 4:1-6)
Christian Conduct (1 Peter 3:8-12)
The First Vision (Revelation 1:9-20)
The First Six Seals (Revelation 6:1-17)
The New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9 – 22:21)
Let us take a look at some of the verses. I’ll also include some commentary to study over and consider. May we see the face of Jesus in our hearts as we read along.
The Transfiguration
While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. Luke 9:29
And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Matthew 17:2
The face of Jesus shines (like the sun!) with glory, exceeding the glory that shone on the face of Moses returning from his encounter with God on Mt. Sinai in the Old Testament. The transfiguration of Jesus confirms his divine Sonship.
Per St. Dionysius,
The glory that shone around the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration prefigures the contemplation of God in eternity,
where the minds of the saints will be forever lifted up from lower concerns and engulfed in the blazing light of the Trinity.
Source: Ignatius New Testament Catholic Study Bible.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. Matthew 18:10
This verse is more about our guardian angels than it is about the face of the Lord. However, the angels are beholding the glorious face of God in heaven.
This is the end goal of our faith journey, the Beatific Vision.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, Matthew 26:67
This hostile and terrible abuse of Jesus during his passion was prefigured by the abuse of the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah (Isa 50:6). It is also interesting to note that in just a few verses prior, Jesus breaks silence before the assembly at the Sanhedrin and confirms he is Israel’s divine Messiah and king (Mt 26:64).
The rejection of Jesus as Messiah back then is no different than the rejection of the Jesus in the secular world today. An example of this would be the secular world falsely declaring that Jesus was not celibate, but married, which would anchor him to this world. Marriage is a sign of the world to come, the eternal heaven where Jesus lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. This rejection of Jesus by the world also helps explain why the world despises celibacy.
Integrity in the Ministry
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of [Jesus] Christ. 2 Cor 4:6
Light had victory over darkness in the beginning,(Genesis 1:3) and light will have victory over any darkness and sin that resides within our hearts in the end. It is part of the lifelong Christian conversion (and purgation) process we must all go through to stand among the saints before the throne of God in heaven. We could say St. Paul experienced a flash of divine light firsthand when he was knocked down by the blinding light of the risen Lord on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3).
St. Paul describes the Spirit-empowered transformation that takes place within all Christians as they contemplate the image of God reflected in Jesus, the new Adam.
That is, we see the face of Jesus with the eyes of faith, and in seeing his face we recognize the divine majesty revealed in him.
Source: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Second Corinthians
Let the transformation begin! Per Fr. Ripperger, this is one of the reasons why the Blessed Mother asks for us to pray the rosary every day. By doing so, we begin the transformation process in our souls that will take place in this life or the next for all the faithful as we journey in faith towards the burning flames of Divine Love.
The Lord of hosts is himself the king of glory.
He will transform us and show us his face,
and we shall be saved;
all our longing will be fulfilled,
all our desires will be satisfied.
– St. Augustine