A Lenten Journey to Jerusalem with Saint Luke: Part 1
We are pleased to be able to share the first of our six-week series of Lenten reflections, prepared by Fr Gwilym Evans FSSP, and sent from where he is currently studying in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
Hills of Samaria with Jerusalem visible in the distance ©Dmitriy Feldman
“When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51)
With these striking words, St Luke begins what exegetes call the ‘Journey to Jerusalem’—a ten-chapter pedagogical pilgrimage toward the Cross. While other Evangelists hurry to the Passion (in Mark, Jesus’ final journey occupies scarcely a chapter), Luke lingers, inviting us to walk in the footsteps of Christ, to be formed by Him along the road to sacrifice. Over the next six weeks, we will follow this journey together.
Jerusalem is no incidental destination. It is the city where prophets are killed (13:34), over which Christ will weep (19:41), and—above all—the site of the Temple: the place of sacrifice.
The Greek text tells us, literally, that Jesus fixed—or solidified—His face toward Jerusalem. It is an expression that recalls God’s repeated command to the prophet Ezekiel, “Son of man, set your face toward…” (cf. Ezek 21:2): the formula of a will directed by heaven. The face that—earlier in the chapter—shone at the Transfiguration (9:29) is now set toward sacrifice: ready to be blindfolded, struck, and disfigured — and, on the third day, glorified.
To follow someone usually means seeing only their back; but to follow Christ is to gaze upon His face. Jesus sends His disciples “before His face” (9:52; 10:1), as God sent His messenger before Israel (Exod 23:20) and John the Baptist before the Lord (Lk 7:27). Christ’s followers do not trail in His shadow; we are illumined by His presence: “The Lord make his face to shine upon you” (Num 6:25).
Yet this path demands a ‘Triple Cross’ of renunciation. In the encounter with three would-be disciples (9:57-62), Our Lord asks each one for a sacrifice:
1 - Security and comfort
2 - Earthly duties
3 - Attachment to the past.
It is a call to “risk all for Christ”, as Blessed Adrian Fortescue prayed. The journey to Jerusalem begins here — a daily resolve to set one’s face toward Christ.
Early Christians loved to meditate upon the Holy Face (the true image [icon] of God, cf. 2 Cor 4:4): the Image of Edessa; the Encaustic Icon of Sinai. The Order’s own tradition recognizes that Face in our seigneurs malades. In the face of Jesus, contemplation and service meet. His face must be the light by which we walk.
Mon Ciel ici-bas !… (Cantique à la Sainte Face, 12 août 1895) © Les archives du Carmel de Lisieux
Jésus, ton ineffable image
Est l’astre qui guide mes pas
Ah ! tu le sais, ton doux Visage
Est pour moi le Ciel ici-bas.
— St Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face
(Jesus, your ineffable image / Is the star that guides my steps. / Ah! you know, your sweet Face / Is for me Heaven on earth.)
The Volto Santo — a Passion reliquary bearing an image of the Holy Face of Our Lord, containing relics of the True Cross, the sponge and the pillar of the flagellation — venerated in the Collegiate Church of Saint Lawrence, Vittoriosa (Birgu): the Order’s first Conventual Church in Malta © EJR