Reflect
In the last part of Dante’s Divine Comedy, as he travels through heaven, Dante comes to realize that it isn’t through any effort on his part. Something else moves him through his journey. And that is love. Whenever the pilgrim becomes confused or anxious, he turns to look at his beloved guide, Beatrice. And each time he looks at her, he discovers that she has grown more beautiful. And isn’t that how love works? Each time we look at someone we love we seem to see them anew, see them ever more clearly, and ever more beautiful. We are—in a very real sense—transported by that look, by their beauty, by the leap in our heart that we call love. And as Dante might say, that is the power that “moves the sun and all the other stars”—the look of love.
Pray
I give my eyes to you, oh Lord.
Open them to the beauty
and wonder of your creation.
Let me look today with eyes of love
at all who come my way.
Act
Is there someone you love so much that each time you see their face your heart skips a beat, leaps for joy? What is that sensation but a foretaste of heaven? It could be a friend, a spouse, a schoolmate, or maybe just someone at the park with a beautiful smile. Take a moment to thank God for that smile, that face, that person, that feeling, that transcendent grace the poet might call the look of love.
