“So how was your first class on digital photography, Phil?” his father asked.
“It was more than GREAT, Dad!It was inspiring and very challenging,” his son
pulled a chair and sat beside him.
“How was it inspiring, son?”
“Well, for one thing our teacher is really passionate about digital photography. He’s not satisfied with telling you how to aim and shoot, he’s also there to make sure that every picture you take has a story.”
“A story, you say?” his dad lowered the newspaper he was reading.
“Yeah, that’s the coolest thing, Dad. He emphasizes on three important points in every shot: the science, the art and the story.”
“That’s very interesting,” Phil’s dad was all ears as he put the newspaper aside. “So what do they mean exactly?”
“Science refers to everything about the settings for light, speed and other sorts of combinations, etc., everything that has to do with the technical stuff.”
“And art?”
“Art would be … ,” Phil scratched his head trying to recall.
“I guess it’s obvious,” his father interrupted. “How you compose all that technical stuff together to come out with something artistically beautiful.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s it, basically.”
“And story?”
“That you don’t just shoot for the sake of shooting. Every picture must have a story to tell.”
“That sounds really interesting, son! And the challenge?”
“Our prof scolded a classmate because he arrived late for our class.”
“I would too,” his father nodded.
“Yeah, a teacher like you would also know. Well, he asked the student if he could—this was required for every session—show the class his photograph.”
“And I guess he didn’t have any,” his dad tried guessing.
“In fact, he had but he took only a few minutes before the class.”
“Ahhh … and he got it, right?”
“Prof said that if he was taking a shot just to fulfill a requirement, then he was probably in the wrong class. He then emphasized how important it was for every shot to at least contain these three principles.”
“That is demanding,” his dad agreed.
* * *
If there’s someone else more demanding than this photography teacher, it would be God Himself. He doesn’t expect anything less than holiness for every man and woman. This is because it’s the only way—and He desires it for everyone, more than each person may want it—for the person to be united with God who is holiness Himself: this is the gratuitous communion we are called to one day in Heaven.
And God is not one to sit in Heaven just waiting for us to appear before Him. If we’ve seen parents and relatives nostalgically admiring photos of their loved ones who may be leaving far away or have already passed away, then we understand how God loves to contemplate us daily.
Analogically, He also takes snapshots of our life constantly. There are shots where we are perhaps not ready. He catches us in a very awkward situation. We could be sometimes angry, impatient and jealous, etc. But He takes them just the same and makes us aware of them so that we may rectify.
He also takes shots of our happy moments because He too is happy when we are happy. Somehow, though our Lord feels a little sad because we often forget Him for “life’s better portraits” and we could forget to thank Him for them. God often keeps these tucked away in Heaven, where we could hopefully enjoy it with Him for eternity.
Can you imagine what type of camera He would use to capture the moments of our life? Well, obviously He doesn’t need one, but if there is one particular useful and powerful camera, it would be the Holy Mass. This is such an apt comparison because the Mass already—though not entirely as it will be in Heaven—an intimate communion with God here on earth.
In every Mass, we have the chance of putting on our best for God to capture the best picture of our love and sacrifice. Somehow, the Mass we attend now—preparing for it and living it as our first, last and only Mass—already foretells how the final shot or our judgment will come out: whether we have loved God or ourselves. Once the shot is taken, it stays as it is, just as we are. So too one day, we will be in God’s presence to be judged.
The final score depends on each one’s most sincere dispositions to receive Jesus as St. Paul tells the Corinthians: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.”
God will contemplate that final photo and ask us about the science of our life, that is, how we have followed the moral manual of His commandments and His specified will of love for us. He will also ask about the art, as to how we have composed all these into the rich tapestry of virtues through our love for neighbor. Finally, he will ask our story of identification Him.
* * *
“So what shot will you show in class next week, son?”
“I thought of one, but I have to ask your permission,” Phil smiled.
“My permission? You know that won’t be necessary.”
“So I can take it now?”
“Now? What exactly would be the story behind me?”
“Oh, not you,” his son laughed. “It would be you behind the newspaper
and your feet on top of the table.”
“That’s silly! And the story?”
“Retirement!” Phil ducked in time to avoid the flying newspaper.