The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Keep hope alive, keep your gaze fixed on Jesus

With all the horrible things happening in our world—from natural disasters to man-made atrocities in all corners of the globe—how do we remain people of hope?

Pope Francis tells us in no uncertain terms: We keep our hope alive by keeping our gaze fixed on Jesus Christ. We can do this, the pope says, because Jesus keeps his gaze on us! “The gaze of Jesus falls on both the big and the small. That’s how Jesus sees us all: He sees all things, but looks at each of us. He sees our big problems, our greatest joys, and also looks at the little things about us. Because he is close. Jesus is not afraid of the big things, but also takes account of the small ones. That’s how Jesus looks at us.”

Since Jesus is always looking at us, we are strongly encouraged to return his gaze. “I go forward, looking at Jesus,” Pope Francis teaches. “I walk ahead, keeping my gaze fixed on Jesus, and what do I find? That he has his gaze fixed on me! And that makes me feel this great astonishment. This is the astonishment of the encounter with Jesus. Let us not be afraid! Let us run down this road with our gaze ever fixed on Jesus. And we will have a beautiful surprise: He will fill us with awe. Jesus himself has his gaze fixed on me.”

Why is the gaze of Jesus so important to our hope? There is nothing that we can suffer whether loneliness, fear, pain, discouragement or death itself that Jesus has not suffered, and overcome, for our sake. He is proof that “hope springs eternal,” and “love is stronger than death.” If Jesus is with us, then we are invincible. If his grace sustains us, then we can endure every privation and overcome any obstacle.

When our eyes meet the eyes of Jesus, we can connect with him in ways that are truly transformative. Jesus’ gaze is not passive or indifferent. As Pope Francis says, Jesus is close to us—not simply in the sense of being nearby, but one-with-us, closer to us than we are to ourselves. The gaze of Jesus looks right through us. It penetrates to the core of our being, to our heart of hearts, and gives us the most profound hope possible. “And behold I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).

Even in the face of death, Jesus is always with us. He is always close to us. So, Pope Francis teaches, we have nothing to fear. “For Christ is the first fruit of the future resurrection. Before the mystery of death, and the loss of our loved ones, we Christians are challenged to hope more firmly in the Lord’s promise of eternal life. Paul tells the Thessalonians to wear the hope of salvation like a helmet [1 Thes 5:8], in the knowledge that, because Christ is risen, the object of our hope is certain. Christian hope, then, is a way of life; we live daily in expectation of the resurrection.”

The way of life that is Christian hope must be lived daily in the face of all life’s disappointments and sorrows whether large or small. Martyrs are witnesses to hope. They are children, women and men who “lived daily in expectation of the resurrection.” They are people who fixed their gaze on Jesus, and refused to look away no matter what the cost.

Pope Francis likes to quote the saying that “every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” He sees this as an affirmation of the transforming power of God’s grace. We are all sinners who are called to be holy. We are all despairing, discouraged and fearful people who are called to be witnesses to hope. Those who have succeeded (the saints and martyrs) are not a privileged class of people far removed from us. They too are close. That’s why we seek their intercession in prayer. That’s why we try to live the way they did, the way of Christian hope.

If we run “with perseverance, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,” Pope Francis says, “we will be ‘completely astonished’ by the power of his love and by his closeness to us.”

Let’s be people of hope who keep our gaze firmly fixed on the face of God’s mercy, Jesus Christ.
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †