A few days ago, someone gave me a beautiful card featuring a 17th century painting of Jesus’ face by the famous artist Juan Correa.
    The painting is titled Salvator Mundi, which means “savior of the world.”
    Inside the card is a quote from St. Augustine: “Too late I have loved you, O beauty of ancient days, yet ever new. Too late I have loved you! And behold, you were within, and I abroad, and there I searched for you. ... You were with me, but I was not with you. ... You called, and shouted, and burst my deafness. You flashed and shone, and scattered my blindness. ... You touched me, and I burned in desires for your peace.”
    It reminded me of how important it is to contemplate the face of Christ as Pope John Paul II invited all of us to do at the beginning of the new millennium in his apostolic letter “Novo Millennio lneunte.” He asks: “Is it not the church’s task to reflect the light of Christ in every historical period, to make his face shine also before the generations of the new millennium? Our witness, however, would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated his face.”

     To be able to contemplate Christ’s face, we need a spiritual life. Scripture tells us: “Brothers and sisters: You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. ... Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom 8: 9-11,13).
    We need a spiritual life that is real. A spiritual life that helps us to develop the image of Christ in our soul and in our body. A spiritual life that feeds our soul and improves our human personality. Physical life is not enough for human beings. It cannot fulfill the search for love and freedom: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:9-11,13).
    It is essential to understand the reality of spiritual life. There is a tendency to think that the spiritual life is something emotional or that it is for special people, or that it is pious devotion or sentimental reaction. But spiritual life is made of real prayer life: acts of faith, love and hope, daily Mass, the recitation of the rosary and the practice of honesty, justice, poverty and chastity and even the virtues of cheerfulness, generosity and gratitude.
    We find it difficult to give importance to our spiritual life.
    We don’t see the immediate usefulness of it.
    It won’t make us rich or famous.
    We have a hard time believing in the reality and benefits of developing a strong spiritual life.

    Jesus hints at what we need to do to develop our spiritual life when he says: “I give praise to you, Father, lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones.” (Mt 11: 25-29) “You have revealed them to little ones.”
In other words, we need humility, especially simplicity.
    Life is complicated. Society makes it so.
    In every life, sooner or later, labors and burdens show themselves in the form of health problems, family disharmony or financial difficulties.
    They can arise from past evils that still haunt us, from present worries that distract us, or from insecurities about the future that immobilize us.

     To develop a spiritual life we need the simplicity that is reflected in Jesus’ words: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.” To obtain simplicity we must stop being defensive about ourselves, especially about our mistakes and shortcomings. We must stop thinking about ourselves and leave our future in the hands of God: “He who walks in simplicity walks with confidence.” (Prov 10:9)
    Jesus calls us to contemplate his face, to renew our decision to have a real spiritual life.
    Let us ask for the simplicity of heart to reject the distractions of secular society and find the way to develop a strong spiritual life based on the contemplation of the person and life of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
    Our world is not at peace even though we have a strong desire for peace.
    True peace comes from God, and is granted to men and women of good will who strive to live their lives in accordance with God’s will.
    There can be no true peace unless we are deeply sincere with ourselves and acknowledge those things in our lives that separate us from God and others.
    May our Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace, help us to center our lives in the contemplation of Jesus, through strong spiritual lives, based on humility and simplicity, that will give us the joy and peace of Jesus Christ, Savior of the World.

The above column from Archbishop José H. Gomez was reprinted from the July 17, 2002 edition of the Denver Catholic Register, official publication of the Denver Archdiocese.