I have seen God’s face. And it is beautiful.

Scripture is full of references to the human longing to see the face of God.

Psalm 27:8 – My heart says, your face, O Lord, I seek.

Psalm 80:3 – Let your face shine on us, Lord, and we shall be saved.

1 Corinthians 13:12 – Then we shall see God face to face and eye to eye.

His face is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, though, it can be hard for us to see the face of Jesus in the brokenness that presents itself through humanity's gaze.

And yet, that is precisely where I see God's face. It is revealed to me in the faces of others who suffer – the lost, the broken, the addicted, the hurting, the hidden, the poor, the lonely and the abandoned. The children and the elderly. In every human face I see an icon of the face of God.

It is the same Jesus I meet in the Eucharist each day.

We don't need to look far to see the face of God. He is gazing at us through the eyes of our neighbor.

I have seen God's face. And it is beautiful.

Tanzania: A Story of Hope Then and Now

This past May, I led a mission team to Tanzania, a place that holds special significance for the Brotherhood and me. It was during a similar mission trip to Tanzania in 2001 organized by the Brotherhood that I first heard the Lord invite me to something more for my life than my own ideas.

That openness and trust to being led outside of my comfort zone led to my vocation as a Brother. Most recently, it has also led to my call within the Brotherhood to lead the Generous Hearts program, our Brotherhood's initiative to serve the poor and marginalized.

For 15 years, the Brothers organized mission trips to Tanzania. We stopped them in 2013 to focus our efforts elsewhere. It was time to come back to Tanzania, and I was excited to return and continue the legacy that other Brothers, especially Br. Ken Apuzzo and Br. Patrick Reilly, had begun before me.

Before 2010, children in Nyalanga village studied in a small makeshift school room. Over the next three years, mission trips led by the Brotherhood built a two-room schoolhouse completed in 2013.

Children began coming from across the region to go to school there, and soon the number of students exceeded the school's capacity. Eventually, the village petitioned the Tanzanian government for help, and in 2020, the government-built school was completed.

Today, over 400 students come from across the region, some walking as far as 15 kilometers one way, to receive the gift of education!

What You Did for the Least of My Brethren You Did for Me (Mt 25:40)

This passage from Matthew's Gospel is printed on the backs of shirts worn by missionaries during our trips, reflecting God's desire for us to see Him through our service to others. My vision for Generous Hearts comes to life through serving others on three levels: the world we live in (international mission trips), the country we live in (domestic mission trips), and the cities we live in (local service to the poor).

Last year, in collaboration with our partner Saint Paul's Outreach (SPO), we achieved our goal to organize six successful mission trips – two to Honduras, three to Peru, and one to Tanzania. We also scouted two potential locations with the hopes of running eight mission trips this year.

Word is getting out to parishes and other mission-interested organizations, and local mission host partners have all asked that we come back again… and soon!

Closer to home, we continue ministering to our homeless brothers and sisters living on Minneapolis' streets. A new city ordinance outlaws homeless encampments of four or more structures. While some may find the city more visually appealing as a result, this has forced the homeless to disperse into smaller groups across Minneapolis, making it more difficult for us to find them.

No matter, we'll keep walking the miles to find and serve our hurting brothers and sisters – we'll all gladly wear out our shoes in search of the face of God on our streets.

The longing of every human heart is to see and be seen. To know and be known. To love and be loved. This is ultimately and most profoundly fulfilled in the gaze of God, who looks with love into every human soul.

I pray that we all have eyes to see the face of God gazing at us personally from every face we meet. Then we can share this truth with the whole world:

I have seen God's face. And it is beautiful.

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