My God! It’s me in the Mirror!

Fr. Francis Scaria

The word of God is the mirror that God has given to us, for our own spiritual benefits. This shows us our own real picture. St. James compared the Word of God to a mirror (cf. James 1:22-25). The Lord does not look at our external appearances, but “looks on the heart” (cf. 1 Sam 16:7). He “knows the hearts of all the children of men” (1 Kings 8:39; 2 Chron 6:30). He knows “the secrets of the hearts” (Ps 44:21).

Ordinary mirrors reflect our external appearances, but the mirror of the Word reflects “what God sees”. One who listens to the word, looks into a mirror and the mirror shows her/him what God sees of her/him. Why does God show this? No one looks at a mirror for nothing. She/he looks at the mirror not only ‘to know’, but also ‘to do something’ about what is seen. That brings out the difference between a photograph and a mirror. In the photograph we see our past image, but unfortunately we cannot do anything with it. Nor can we handle the future at this moment. In the mirror we see our current and real image. We know that we have no control over the past or future, but only over our present. Externally, we can do our make-up and to some extent, correct whatever is awkward in our appearances. This is also true of our internal appearance. God shows us our internal appearance through the word and the breaking of it, so that we can do something about it.

We need to live by the Word. This is what makes St. James advise us to become “doers of the word”, not mere ‘hearers’. Every time we listen to the Word, we need to ask, “what shall I (we) do?”