Use the Other Lens

Not long ago I was approached by some people, who asked, “Archbishop, can we take a selfie with you?” Being the technologically astute and up-to-date person that I am, I asked, “What’s a selfie?” Then they demonstrated how the smartphone, with a camera lens on both front and back, allows one to direct the lens at oneself so that a picture might be taken in which the photographer is included in the shot together with others. With a simple touch of the icon on the screen, the device shifts back and forth between lenses, between focus on self and away from self.

There’s a lesson in this. We live in a “selfie” world. We are encouraged to keep the lens of mind and heart focused on self. All that matters is what I want or desire, and the simple fact that I desire it means that I am entitled to have it.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a call to use the other lens. That is to say, Jesus summons us to focus not on self but on the other, specifically upon the Other – God – and upon the other who is our neighbour. Love of God and love of neighbour is the fundamental commandment left to us by the Lord.

The perfect example of other-centeredness is Mary. In the Gospel passage of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, she receives the message from the angel Gabriel that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Saviour of the world. Her attention is entirely fixed upon this message and the promise of God it conveys. She focuses not on herself but on the plan of God, and gives her fiat.

By turning her “lens” toward God and his promise, Mary comes to know God’s purpose for her in relation to his plan of salvation. This is important to grasp. She comes to know herself by focusing not on self but on God. So it is with us. Clarity with respect to life’s meaning and purpose comes not from a self-referential focus but from a careful and attentive listening to the Word of God. If I keep the lens directed at myself, the resultant picture of my life will be one of sadness, arising from lack of direction and unrealizable hopes. When the lens is fixed where it belongs, i.e., upon God’s Word given in Jesus, the picture is one of happiness and peace.

Of course, the occasional snapshot will reveal moments of difficulty. Mary knew those in abundance, as she watched her Son rejected and crucified. Yet she remained faithful to her fiat, she kept the lens focused on God’s faithfulness, and she witnessed the joy of new life granted in the resurrection of her Son from the dead.

Let’s follow her example of faithful discipleship and keep the lens of our minds and hearts where it belongs: on loving God and serving our neighbour.