Free Republic

A Short Meditation on the “Look” of Jesus By: Msgr. Charles PopeI have a large Icon of Christ in my room. What icons from the Eastern tradition do best is to capture “the Look.” No matter where I move in the room Christ is looking right at me. His look is intense, though not severe. In the Eastern spirituality Icons are windows into heaven. Hence this icon is no mere portrait that reminds one of Christ, it is an image which mediates his presence. When I look upon him, I experience that he knows me. It is a knowing...

ike it has so many times in its long, tortured history, the Shroud of Turin is again, this Easter 2011, resurrected. I don’t use resurrected lightly. If authentic, the ancient linen cloth with mysterious images of a crucified and tortured corpse on its fibers is tangible proof to many Christians of Jesus’ rise from the dead. And while authenticity is certainly still in debate, the burden of proof now — at least on the Shroud’s inexplicableness — has shifted to the doubters. The 14-foot-long shroud can be traced to at least 1354, when it appeared in a church in Lirey,...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A chance to see the face of Jesus is drawing hundreds to a local apartment complex. As word spreads about the image, people are flocking to the window, looking for signs of a miracle. Many claim they are finding it. "I was just touching around to see if I felt anything, and I saw my hand," said Mary Castillo, who has been blind for years. "Then my husband went up there with me and I saw his hand." Castillo said that her vision has started to be restored. She said she saw her 9-year-old granddaughter clearly...