039 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings

Cycle B 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 2:2-5; Psalm 123; 1-4; 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10; Mark 6:1-6

Homily Theme

The Eyes Have It

This week, the Liturgy of the Word is so rich in different themes there is enough material for several homilies. Since I want to keep the homily short, I have decided to concentrate just on the psalm. As you celebrate Holy Mass this weekend, notice the Psalm Response, which you will repeat several times. ‘Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy’, then be aware of how many times the word ‘eyes’ will occur in the psalm itself.

We have all heard the saying that the eyes are the windows of the soul. President George Bush confirmed the expression, claiming when he looked into the eyes of the Russian leader Putin, he saw his soul. Sometime later, he was asked by a reporter what he saw when he looked into the eyes of Pope Benedict, he replied without hesitation. “I saw God.” That’s because Benedict’s eyes are definitely fixed on the Lord. Many people said they saw God when they looked into the eyes of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her eyes were definitely fixed on the Lord when she saw Jesus in the eyes of the poor.

It makes the psalm response come alive for me and I hope it will for you. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone who looked into our eyes could see God? Unfortunately there are very few saints among us because our eyes are fixed on so many other things. We spend so many hours watching television or with our eyes fixed on the smaller screens of our computers and Ipods. In order for people to see God in our eyes we must keep them fixed on the Lord.

During the sign of peace at Holy Mass, look into the eyes of your neighbors and allow them to look into your eyes. Hopefully, we will see each others souls and if our eyes are really fixed on Jesus, we may even see God. Let us strive to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and we will become more aware of our nothingness and His almighty power working in us, Like St. Paul in the second reading this week, we will become aware of our weaknesses, so that we too, can rejoice in our weakness and then we will be truly able to fix our eyes on the Lord and plead for His mercy.