Our warts disappear in the mirror of God

y Mary Regina Morrell

Now there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where he was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, "Lord, if you wish you can make me clean. Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, "I do will it. Be made clean." And the leprosy left him immediately. Luke 5:12-13

Who would have thought that on my last trip to the eye doctor I would have encountered something resembling the Picture of Dorian Gray!!

But there it was, in all its hideousness, as the doctor slid a magnifying mirror in front of me - and that mirror certainly wasn't giving any answers to "Who's the fairest of them all?" All I could see was some grotesque resemblance of a face that looked familiar to mine but disturbing enough to draw a shudder from somewhere deep inside me.

"Yuck!" I thought to myself as I tried to maneuver the mirror out of my line of vision. I know I have flaws but who wants to see them at 5x magnification?!

Certainly none of us wants to sit and stare at the multitude of our imperfections, especially not in the glaring light of a magnifying glass, and certainly not in front of other people. Perhaps that is why we so often turn away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

But it is just such imperfections that God sees even more clearly than we do and, still, God delights in us. And though I believe that to be true, I still have to spend a lot of time reminding myself of that fact. It seems I hold that nasty magnifying mirror in front of my face more often than I should. I suspect I am not alone.

It seems to me there are a lot of people in the world walking around saying, "Yuck!" We need to be mindful that Christ chose as his own the imperfect - the sorrowful, the weak, the sinner, the illiterate, the wounded. Through them he lived and worked and made God's will manifest in the world.

As always, God chooses as God wills, to accomplish what God wills, and we should not be surprised that God chooses us even as Christ chose the woman at the well, the tax collector, the blind man or the leper. And just look at who Jesus chose for his Apostles! Now there was a motley crew!

While we are so busy allowing our imperfections to dictate who we are and to place limits on what we are able to accomplish, God is cherishing the only important thing -- our capacity to love.

God knows what takes us a long time to figure out: in all of creation there is nothing more beautiful than the heart of someone who loves God.

So don't be surprised when God taps you on the shoulder and tells you to put down the mirror because it's your time to shine - warts and all.

And remember the words of our Lord: You have not chosen me. I have chosen you. Go and bear fruit that will last. (John 15:16)

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562-1990

Email

mreginam@aol.com

Keywords

God

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