Eye of the Beholder

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see the reflection of God’s love? This is the love that comes to each of us and lives through us when we allow ourselves to be “captured” by Our Lord. Captured by His gaze.

How often do we feel His gaze? When we attend Mass, receive Holy Communion, partake in Penance and Reconciliation, and of course when we adore the Holy Eucharist, Our Lord is present, gazing upon us, and reaching out to us with His merciful love. Or perhaps, we feel His gaze when we least expect it.  How does that make us feel?

Joy of Our Lord

Consider Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, who climbed the sycamore tree to see Jesus. When Christ gazed upon him and called to him, Zacchaeus received Jesus with great joy and said: “Behold, half my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I shall repay it four times over.” [Luke 19:8]

Have we ever felt that joy—the joy of truly knowing the love of God? It is with that joy we are driven to relinquish ourselves to God's goodness that is meant to come to life in us and through us. Where once we were sinners, we can be holy. Captured by Jesus’ gaze, He draws us into His Sacred Heart to be one with Him—to live in holiness, now and forever. When we look in the mirror, do we see that we can be holy?

What Do We See?

For certain we are sinners. Perhaps our sins blind us to what we can be in the eyes of Our Lord. Or perhaps we are too distracted in our daily living to look upon Our Savior as He looks upon each of us. Fortunately, our sins and distractions do not prevent Him from seeing us for He sees everything. He sees what we are and what we can become.           

When I look in the mirror, I have difficulty seeing beyond the signs of age—those constant reminders that time is going by quickly. However, there are other times when I least expect it that I get glimpses of God’s love. In those moments, my heart is elated and contented in knowing Our Lord is near.

The Closeness of God’s Love

The question I face is: How close do I want to be to God’s great love. At times I find myself pushing Our Lord away. Why, I don’t truly know. Perhaps, I feel I cannot handle His love with the devotion it deserves. Then other times, like Zacchaeus, I feel lost in the crowd.

Whatever our feelings may be, the truth is we are loved by Heaven’s Almighty. With that love, we are never lost, we are never alone. May we never lose sight of that love so that we may always have the strength to do the good God wants us to do and may we see that goodness within ourselves as we are seen in the eye of our beholder. Amen.