Sunday, October 24 : Saint Gregory of Nyssa

      [The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai: “Let me see your glory!” He answered: “I will make all my beauty pass before you (…) but my face you cannot see” (Ex 33:18 f).] Such an experience seems to me to belong to the soul which loves what is beautiful. Hope always draws the soul from the beauty which is seen to what is beyond (…) And the bold request which goes up the mountains of desire asks this: to enjoy the Beauty not in mirrors and reflections, but face to face. The divine voice granted what was requested in what was denied (…): the munificence of God assented to the fulfilment of the desire but did not promise any cessation or satiety of the desire (…) The true sight of God consists in this, that the one who looks up to God never ceases in that desire. For he says: “You cannot see my face and live” (…).        But when the Lord who spoke to Moses came to fulfil his own law, he likewise gave a clear explanation to his disciples, laying bare the meaning of what had previously been said in a figure when he said: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine “ (Lk 9:23) and not “If any man will go before me.” And to the one asking about eternal life he proposes the same thing, for he says: “Come, follow me” (Lk 18:22). Now, he who follows sees the back. So Moses, who eagerly seeks to behold God, is now taught how he can behold Him: to follow God wherever he might lead is to behold God (…). Someone who does not know the way cannot complete his journey safely in any other way than by following behind his guide. He who leads, then, by his guidance shows the way to the one following. He who follows will not turn aside from the right way if he always keeps the back of his leader in view. For he who moves to one side or brings himself to face his guide assumes another direction for himself than the one his guide shows him. Therefore God says to the one who is led: “My face is not to be seen”, that is, “Do not face your guide”. If he does so, his course will certainly be in the opposite direction (…). You see how it is so great a thing to learn how to follow God (…). No longer does any offense which comes about through evil withstand the one who thus follows him.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team