“But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18)
To understand what St. Paul means by unveiled face we must recall Moses descending from Mt. Sinai where he had been speaking with the Lord (Exodus 34:33). His face shone with light, and it frightened Aaron and the people. So he wore a veil when talking with them, but he removed the veil when speaking with God. Paul takes it to mean that the glow of glory eventually faded from Moses’ face, but the Holy Spirit is transforming Christians into a fuller awareness of God’s glory. Rather than fading away, Christ’s glory transforms true believers into ever-brighter icons of His image in us.
Another meaning is that while in the Old Testament God’s glory was seen through a veil, with Christ there is no need for a veil, since what was opaque and obscure is now clear and brilliant. Once baptized and sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, those who continue to open their hearts to all the implications of being in Christ polish His image and progress from one stage of glory to another. There is no end of the possibilities to become like Christ, and to grow in grace. We are dust and earth invited to become like God in all ways except to share the essence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even after this life on earth is ended, we have the potential to continue growing in glory.
As for us, when we look at ourselves in a mirror, do we recognize the image of Christ staring back at us? We are called to be living icons, examples like those on our walls of true Christians with God’s likeness shining from their faces. But there are veils:
A. Dreadful to admit that our churches harbor those with prejudice against people who are unlike them in some way. Maybe our parishes would grow if all of us were more accepting of what makes humanity different in various ways.
B. Some pick and choose what they like about the Orthodox Church and ignore the rest. They may like the music and ritual but not the personal confessions, fasting rules or tithing. Cafeteria Christianity is part of the American scene, but it hardly fits the discipline of true believers.
C. Others are simply unteachable. They are determined to follow their own stubborn rules set by themselves and will be buried with the same blind irrational opinions that not even the Holy Spirit can soften.
The critical challenge is to wage a spiritual war against our sinful nature and the demonic thoughts that impair our good intentions. The priest Elias who lived about eight centuries ago wrote that our task is to make our hearts fertile and pure, so that the virtues and fruit of the Holy Spirit will multiply there. But we have two basic categories of spiritual foes to deal with: Passions of the body, such as sexuality, anger, depression, hatred, prejudice and other so-called natural emotions, and our thoughts which are even harder to suppress, because we think of them as somehow part of who we are.
Just when we feel that we have surrounded the garden of our heart with a fence that has no openings for the wild animals of lust, greed, laziness, overeating—after all the passions that afflict us have been kept out—the birds of the air alight on our hearts and invade us with ideas that are meant to confuse and bewilder us with all sorts of contradictory proposals.
From a human point of view, such a vision of glory seems out of reach. But when we make the effort and prove our desire to grow into the fullness of grace, God comes to us in the Holy Spirit, pointing us to Jesus Christ Who leads us to the Father.