Catholic Radio Dramas

We Are Sealed With the Glory

From the Explanation of the Psalms by Saint Ambrose, Bishop (340-397)

We Are Sealed with the Glory of Your Face

Narrated by Frank Dugan, Huntington Beach, California

Why do you turn away your face? We think that God is turning his face away from us when we find ourselves in such distress that our senses are clouded in darkness and we cannot see the glory of him who is truth. We are convinced that if God would pay attention to our condition and be pleased to visit our souls, nothing could plunge us in gloom. If a person’s face is more enlightening than other parts of his body – so that when we look at someone we either see him as a stranger or recognize him as someone we know, whom our glance will not allow to pass unrecognized – how much more does the face of God enlighten those on whom he directs his gaze.

In his usual way Saint Paul has something striking to say on this subject. He employs his gift for making Christ better understood to bring him closer to us through the use of appropriate ideas and expressions. He tells us: God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has caused light to shine in our hearts, so that we might receive the revelation of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. We know, then the place where Christ is shining within us. He is the eternal splendor enlightening our minds and hearts. He was sent by the Father to shine on us in the glory of his face, and so enable us to see what is eternal and heavenly, where before we were imprisoned in the darkness of this world.

There should be no need for me to speak of Christ when even Peter the apostle said to the man born lame: Look at us. He looked at Peter and was enlightened by the grace of faith. He would not have received healing had he not believed with faith.

Such was the glory possessed by the apostles. Yet Zacchaeus, hearing that the Lord Jesus was passing by, climbed a tree, for he was small in stature and could not see him because of the crowd. He saw Christ and discovered the light. He saw Christ and gave up what was his own, though he was a man who took what belonged to others.

Why do you turn away your face? We may say it in another way. Even if, Lord, you turn your face away from us, yet we are sealed with the glory of your face. Your glory is in our hearts and shines in the deep places of our spirit. Indeed, no one can live if you should turn away your face.

Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings

Saint Ambrose (340-397) was born in Trier, Germany, the son of the praetorian prefect of Gaul. He was taken back to Rome at the death of his father and became a lawyer. He was known for his compelling oratory and learning. He was appointed assessor to Probus, the praetorian prefect of Italy, and appointed governor of Liguria by Emperor Valentinian in 372 at age 32. Two years later, he went to Milan to quiet the turmoil between the Arians and Catholics at the death of the presiding bishop. When Ambrose appeared there he was baptized and immediately consecrated bishop of Milan. He gave away all his possessions and began a serious study of Sacred Scripture, theology and the great Christian writers. He began to live a life of great austerity and soon became the most eloquent preacher of his day. He was acclaimed as the most formidable Catholic opponent of Arianism in the West.

He became advisor to Emperor Gratian and in 379 and persuaded him to outlaw Arianism in the West. Ambrose denounced a massacre of some seven thousand people in Thessalonica by Emperor Theodosius I, refusing him the sacraments until he performed a severe public penance – which Theodosius did. Ambrose died in Milan on April 4, 397 at the age of 57. He was one of the great figures of early Christianity and was responsible for the rise of Christianity in the West as the Roman Empire was dying. He wrote profusely on the Bible, theology, asceticism and wrote numerous homilies, psalms and hymns. It was Ambrose who brought St. Augustine, who revered him, back to his Catholic faith and baptized him in 397. He was declared a Doctor of the Church and is considered the exemplar of what a bishop should be; holy, learned, courageous, patient, and immovable when necessary for the faith.