There is no beauty on him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him and there was no sightlines, that we should be attracted to him. Despised and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity; and his look was, as it were, hidden and despised. Where upon we esteemed him not (Is 53:2-3).
It is the Son of God who is passing by, a madman... madly in love! A woman, Veronica by name, makes her way through the crowd, with a white linen cloth folded in her hands, and with this she reverently wipes the face of Jesus. Our Lord leaves the impression of his holy Face on the three parts of the veil.
The beloved face of Jesus, which had smiled upon children and was transfigured with glory on Mount Tabor, is now, as it were, concealed by suffering. But this suffering is our purification; the sweat and the blood which disfigure and tarnish his features, serve to cleanse us.
Lord, help me to decide to tear off, through penance, this pitiful mask that I have fashioned with my wretched doings... Then, and only then, by following the path of contemplation and atonement, will my life begin to copy faithfully the features of your life. I will find myself becoming more and more like you.
We will be other Christ, Christ himself, ipse Christus.