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Views from the Choir Loft

Seeking the Face of God

Fr. David Friel · August 12, 2011

Early August every year brings us the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which was celebrated last Saturday. In reflecting on that scene over the last week, I’ve been thinking of it as the fulfillment of a foundational Christian desire and natural longing of the human heart. From the time of Moses onward, Scripture stresses the theme of people searching for the face of God. We see it particularly in the psalms: “Let Your face shine on us” (Ps 67:2), “Hide not Your face from me” (Ps 27:9), “When shall I go and behold the face of God?” (Ps 42:3). Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has also embraced the theme, saying right on the back cover of Jesus of Nazareth: “This book is . . . my personal search ‘for the face of the Lord’” (Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 1, xxiii).

Now, in between Moses and Pope Benedict came the Incarnation, which drastically changed our approach to satisfying this basic desire to see the face of God. In the Incarnation, Jesus took a human form, a human face. During His life on Earth, the Apostles had the opportunity to see His face every day for three years. Even more, though, the saintly triumvirate of Peter, James, and John are privileged to see not just the human face of Christ, but the face of Christ transfigured in glory. Imagine: what must it have been like to be on that mountain? What did it look like? How did it affect those chosen three? Did it satisfy their desire to see Him more fully?

We don’t have the opportunity to see the face of Christ in the same way the Apostles did, so how can we satisfy our desire to see Him? I propose that, in order to see Him, we must listen; if we want to see, we have to hear. The Gospel says that the Father’s voice was heard at the Transfiguration, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him” (Mk 9:7). Some Scripture scholars suggest that that one line—Listen to Him—is the climax of Mark’s entire Gospel. God the Father uttered almost exactly the same words at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, which is another highpoint in his Gospel (Mk 1:11), and the entire narrative of Mark appears structurally to revolve around the scene of the Transfiguration. God the Father knows that we have to hear Jesus’ words before we can really see Who He is.

It’s a mixture of the senses, much like the game “Marco Polo.” In that game, one person stands blindfolded in the middle and says, “Marco!” to which the others respond, “Polo!” Then, the blindfolded person tries to catch one of the others by following the sound of their voices. He has to hear their voices before he takes off his blindfold to see them. It’s the same with us: we need to hear the Word of God before we can see Him.

It was the same for the people of Israel, who first heard the words of God through the prophets in the days of the Old Testament. Only later did they see Jesus in the Incarnation. Another example comes from St. Paul, who was blinded at his conversion. He heard the Father’s voice, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4, 22:7, & 26:14). Only thereafter did he regain his sight, and come to recognize Christ Jesus as His Lord. We find the same pattern also in the Holy Mass. The Liturgy of the Word comes before the Liturgy of the Eucharist, so we hear Him in the Scriptures before we see Him physically, substantially present on the altar.

This is the model for how we can go about satisfying our desire to see God’s face. We can pray, spend time with Him, and listen to His voice in silence. By hearing His voice, His face comes into focus.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

Let us ponder the incontrovertible fact that Eucharistic Adoration in the Ordinary Form (“Novus Ordo”) is always and everywhere celebrated “ad orientem.” Why, then, is there such opposition to Mass being celebrated in that way, which is actually stipulated by the 1970 Missal rubrics?

— A Benedictine Monk (2013)

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  • Now Available! • “Hymns of Cardinal Newman: Kevin Allen’s Legendary Choral Settings”
  • Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)

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