To be contemplative as Christ is contemplative is to be open to all the fullness that the Father wishes to pour into our hearts. With our minds made still and ready to receive, with our self-generated fantasies about God and ourselves reduced to silence, we are at last at the point where we may begin to grow. And the face we need to show to our world is the face of a humanity in endless growth towards love, a humanity so delighted and engaged by the glory of what we look towards that we are prepared to embark on a journey without end to find our way more deeply into it, into the heart of the trinitarian life. St Paul speaks (in II Cor 3.18) of how 'with our unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord', we are transfigured with a greater and greater radiance. That is the face we seek to show to our fellow-human beings.

Archbishop Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England and the Anglican Communion. Address to the Synod of Bishops, 2012

CNS photo/Bruno Domingos, Reuters The newly restored Christ the Redeemer statue is seen atop Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 125-foot-tall statue was erected in 1931 and is overseen by the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro.