Poor Saint Paul. It seems that Paul went through many hardships during his travels as an evangelist. In today’s first reading, he tells us all about it. It’s a very long list. Paul is actually proud of all the miserable experiences he had in life. Can you imagine that? Do you know anyone who brags about hunger, thirst, cold, or sleepless nights? These things are minor compared to being stoned, beaten, attacked by robbers, shipwrecked multiple times, and facing dangers at sea, in the city, the wilderness and in his own land. An interesting thing Paul mentions are the dangers that he faced among false brothers. That one makes us stop for a moment, because it has relevance in our modern times too. Some of our fellow Catholics do not believe in some of the most basic teachings of our church either, like abortion is morally wrong.<
Why was Saint Paul “speaking in foolishness” and “talking like an insane person”? It sounds a little crazy to boast of the things that show his weaknesses. He claimed that he was a weak person, prone to sin, especially to become indignant or upset. Why would he brag about his sins and weaknesses? In our day and age, many of our priests and fellow Catholics seem to be pretty concerned about the sins and weaknesses that we have.
Sins and weaknesses are something we should be concerned about. But, Saint Paul has a slightly different take on the matter. When Paul was weak, he relied on the Lord Jesus Christ instead of himself. This is worth repeating. When Paul was weak and even sinned, he did not rely on his own goodness, his own holiness or his own strength. Paul simply relied on Jesus Christ through all the circumstances that he experienced in life.
Paul explains why he was proud of his weaknesses in the next chapter of Corinthians (2 Cor 12:7-9). Paul says “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Saint Paul loved Jesus and glorified him with his life and never accepted any of the glory for himself. The weaker he appeared to others, the more other people would look toward Jesus rather than himself. His weaknesses and sins glorified the perfections of Christ and deflected other people’s attention away from himself and toward Jesus instead. This is an unusual concept, but one of the proofs St. Thomas Aquinas explained in the Summa Theologica was basically, that God could be known by what God was not. Christ can also be known, by what he is not. The Lord Jesus is perfect and without sin and we are not.
Jesus tells his disciples in today’s Gospel “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be”. Saint Paul loved Jesus and did not value anything else in his life more than him. All the things he went through did not matter. Christ mattered. His heart was in the right place.
In the Gospel today, Jesus said that, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.”
A lot of people claim that you can look into a person’s eyes and see the state of their soul and there is some truth to this, as Jesus just told us in today’s Gospel. Our heart shows in our eyes. Our eyes tell a lot about a person. One look can say more than a hundred words sometimes. Couples that love each other can glance at one another across a crowded room and the love they see reflected there, connects them. When they are upset with one another, one angry glance at the other is enough to convey the anger that is in their hearts. The eyes do not lie. You can’t hide the truth in your eyes and that is why people look away or look down when they do not want you to know their true feelings or if they are telling a lie. People have trouble looking at one another in the eye if they are afraid to be too intimate with another person too. Couples who are dating can tell if the other person is interested in them, if they hold their gaze for a moment longer than others do.
One last thing that is truly a beautiful thing about the eyes. Sometimes the homeless, a waiter, a clerk at the grocery store check out, or a janitor is not accustomed to others looking them in the eye. They are often ignored and people do not bother to look them in the eye. They are simply taken for granted and are transient people that we encounter in public. However, watch their reaction when you make a point to look them in the eye and speak to them. Hold their gaze for just a moment and say a word or two to them, and watch how much they will perk up. Many people break out with a great big smile too. The reason is because you acknowledged them as a human being, who is worthy of being shown respect because they are made in the image and likeness of God too.
This might be a worthwhile thing to try to do today. Try looking people in the eye when you encounter them in public. It is a way to show them respect and they will notice that you value them as a human being, enough to look them in the eye. This is one way your eye can be sound and share your light with others, one simple moment at a time.
