“The revelation of the Face of Both God and Man”

On February 20, Cardinal Pizzaballa delivered a beautiful mediation on the scourged and crowned Christs, from the altar of the Ecce Homo chapel itself. Please take a moment to read and internalize the full homily.

“Contemplating the Face of Christ crowned with thorns is an act that transforms us. It transforms our idea of God: no longer a distant and impassible God, but the God-with-us, who cries out in the suffering of the world and redeems it from within. It transforms our gaze upon others: we learn to see the face of Christ in every humiliated, suffering, marginalized person. The crown of thorns is placed on the head of every human outcast. It transforms our gaze upon ourselves: our humiliations, our inner sufferings, the moments when we feel mocked or useless, are not signs of failure or distance from God. Instead, they can become the privileged place where we meet His Face more closely and authentically, without masks.”