MONDAY, TWENTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1 Thes 4: 13-18 Ps 96: 1, 3-5, 11-13 Lk 4: 16-30
FIX YOUR EYES ON HIM
Just as a shooter fixes his eyes on the target and the hunter on the prey, a disciple of Jesus is to fix his/her eyes on the Lord.
Jesus was at the Synagogue where He was given the scroll of prophet Isaiah. He read it aloud and it proclaimed His mission: The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him for He was anointed to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to recover sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. The people in the synagogue who heard Him fixed their eyes on Him. But, later instead of fixing their attention on Jesus, they were distracted; they spoke of Him as the son of Joseph the carpenter.
St Paul reminds us that we need to focus our attention on the Lord. Paul himself had his eyes glued to the omnipotence of the Jewish Law, until the Lord made him see the difference. Paul adds that dying in Christ, we rise in Him and therefore, we must not grieve like those who have no hope. When we fix our eyes on the Lord, we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and He will make those died in Him to rise from the dead. Those who are alive, they need to fix their eyes on the Lord and wait for His glorious coming.
When our eyes are fixed on the things of this passing world, we end up in despair. Sometimes, our eyes are fixed on our own name and fame. This brings about disaster. Some of us may fix our eyes on money and pleasure; it makes us hopeless and pessimistic. When we fix our eyes on our weakness and nothingness, we will find it hard to overcome them. But, when we become aware of our frailty and fix our attention on the Lord, on His love and mercy, we will be transformed into new people. We need to fix our eyes on the Lord, learn from Him and imitate the lessons He taught us through His very life in our daily living. This will make us happy and joyful.
Response: The Lord comes to judge the earth.
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