Young person, Christ is looking at you

Before any rule or demand, faith begins with a look: Jesus looks at you with love.

A rich young man ran up to Jesus and asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Before answering, the Gospel says that Jesus, looking at him, loved him (Mk 10:21). Christ’s first gesture was not a demand; it was a look of love.

That is what the devotion to the Holy Face reminds us: the face of Jesus is not that of a distant judge. It is the face of someone who knows your struggles, your mistakes, your insecurities — and still looks at you with tenderness.

In the exhortation Christus Vivit, written to young people, Pope Francis insists that Christ is alive and wants you to be alive. In a world that rates everyone by likes, looks and performance, knowing that we are loved before any achievement changes everything.

Try it: go into a church, sit before the Blessed Sacrament or an image of the Holy Face and stay in silence for five minutes. You don’t need to say anything. Let yourself be looked at.

To pray

Jesus, look at me as You looked at that young man. You know me completely and You love me as I am. Give me the courage to follow You without fear of losing anything. Amen.