See Him looking at you

This is a favorite exercise of Teresa of Avila for allowing us to experience the love of Christ for ourselves. It was one of those fundamental exercises that she recommended to everyone.

"Imagine you see Jesus standing before you....He is looking at you.....all you have to do is see Him looking at you". "See Him looking at you," Teresa says, "lovingly and humbly".

"Many find it hard to imagine Jesus looking at them lovingly - their image of Jesus is the image of someone who is harsh and demanding, someone who, even if he loves them, loves them only if they are good. The second attitude they find even more difficult to accept. That Jesus should look at them humbly? Impossible! Once again they have not understood the Jesus of the NT. They have never taken seriously the fact that Jesus has become their servant and slave, a man who washes their feet, who willingly dies the death of a slave out of love for them"

(Tony de Mello SJ)