3 January 2023
Christmas Weekday
“When God appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The things that we see change us. When we look at a tree, the image of the tree is inside our mind. If our eyes and our cognitive faculties are working well, then the image in our mind corresponds to the reality of the tree, and our mental image is true. On the other hand, those of us who have a problem with our eyes or our cognitive faculties have an image in our mind that does not correspond to reality. We have a false image. We become like the things that we see because we have their likeness in our minds. “It is not much knowledge that fills and satisfies the soul, but the intimate understanding and relish of the truth” (Spiritual Exercises 2). Our goal is not to accumulate data, information, knowledge, experience, talent, resources, etc. One thing is needful: to see God, and by seeing Him truly, we become like Him.
Going back to the epistle: “everyone who has this hope,” that is, of being like God, “makes himself pure as God is pure” (1 John 3:3). This is why the examination of conscience is such a central part of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, because the spiritual life is unavoidably affected by the moral life: by thoughts, words and deeds. According to St. Ignatius, “the purpose of this examination of conscience is to purify the soul” (Spiritual Exercises 32). May we have the grace to see God, and may our minds be made pure.