A Homily on Matthew 5: 27-32
“Eyes are the windows
of the soul”. How powerful are our human eyes! What wonders can our eyes
do? So much. Our eyes can do and undo us. They can bring us to heaven or cast
us to hell. Why? Jesus tells us in the Gospel: “Anyone who looks at a woman to
satisfy his lust has in fact already committed adultery with her in his heart”.
If looks could kill, then, this is an example of it. Our immodest
looking at a person can cause us the death of our soul. A lustful glance is
sinful – hence, deadly to our soul – because it reduces the other person to a
mere object of one’s pleasure or desire. The ethics of God’s kingdom dictates
that we look at each other with compassion and love, with rectitude of
intention, with utter respect, because we are all God’s children. To disrespect
God’s sons and daughters is to disrespect God.
This Gospel demand is so radical that “if your right eye
causes you to sin, pull it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to
lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell”. God is
asking us to detach ourselves completely from anything that separates us from
Him. Same is true with the right hand that causes you to sin! We may repeat
this beautiful prayer all throughout this day: “Lord, keep me away from whatever separates me from You”.
This is why, in the tradition of spirituality within the Catholic
Church, lots of saints would have exhorted us to guard our sight (Guarda la vista). St. Josemaria Escriva,
for instance, once said:
“The eyes! Through
them many iniquities enter the soul. — What experiences like David's! — If you
guard your sight you have assured the guard of your heart” (The Way, 183).
“Why look around if
you carry 'your world' within you?” (The Way, 184).
May we learn, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, to guard our sight and to guard our heart from whatever filthy things
that separate us from God. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment