“At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face” (1 Cor 13:12). This verse from St. Paul contrasts two types of seeing: that of the present life, and that of the next life. In the next life, the elect are given the vision of God face to face. In the present life, we do not see God face to face. Instead we see God “indistinctly, as in a mirror.” This is how the translators rendered the Greek text: “δι’ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι”, “di esoptrou en ainigmati.” This literally means “through a looking glass, in a riddle.” This little verse may serve to encourage the practitioner of Ignatian spirituality.
Imagine you had never used a microscope before, and someone told you that it had little glasses inside it, which could allow you to see beautiful things such as you had never imagined, such as the structure of a snowflake. Would you not bother to exert yourself, because the operation of the microscope is too time-consuming and besides, you don’t see the snowflake directly, but only through the glass? Or, would you choose to apply yourself, to allow the glass to open up to you a world of beauty that was otherwise off limits? The same thing with riddles. They, likewise, with effort, open up truths to the mind that are otherwise off limits.
My friends, the life of prayer is one that is full of mirror images and riddles. We must accept the terms of the encounter with the divine, and we must “strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 12:31). Those who do so, by the grace of God, catch glimpses of beauty and truth such as no one could imagine.