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Through God’s eyes
Scripture readings for today invite us to see things not as the world sees them but as God sees them. The prophet Zephaniah preaches to a proud Jerusalem that wallows in moral evil and political intrigue. Who will inherit the land? Not the proud and the mighty, but the humble, the lowly. St. Paul is even more explicit: “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak… to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised…to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.”
Jesus’ viewpoint is utterly different from that of the world. Who are happy and blessed in the eyes
of God? Who has the genuine basis for rejoicing? Not the boastful and self-sufficient, not those who believe that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life, not the warmongers, not those who seek to inflict harm in return for an injury or wrong done to them, not the cunning and sneaky, not the high and mighty, but the poor and needy, the meek and unpretentious, those who are suffering and afflicted, those who seek the truth, justice and mercy, the peacemakers, the clean and humble of heart. Jesus declares that these are truly blessed by God.
In the Shakespeare’s play, the old King Lear is briefly reunited with his beloved daughter Cordelia and he cries out in his joy: “… so we live, and pray, and sing, and tell old tales… and take upon us the mystery of things, as if we were God’s spies.” As if we were God’s spies… what a fascinating and marvelous way to look at ourselves!
Seeing things through the eyes of God is the program for the Christian life and the way of life for those who are called to true happiness. Fr. James Schall, who had taught philosophy at Georgetown for years, makes a keen observation: “The main trouble with an atheistic humanism is not that it is atheist, but that it is not a humanism. The ground of our being… is something already established and that not by ourselves (The Mind that is Catholic, 12).” Being true to our God-given human nature will make us happy and content, free and human. Our minds and hearts, our inner souls will be restless until they rest in God. Nothing less than everything will give us rest.
Those who live according to the outlook of the beatitudes are the clear and joyful signs of the presence of God’s kingdom in this world. As many in the world often fail to acknowledge their ground of being, we try to be God’s spies, seeking to be the joyful signs of God’s kingdom.
That kind of outlook and attitude is what we try to instill in the students under our care at St. Jude’s School and in the Faith Formation program. Catholic education helps our young people to seek the truth about themselves by cultivating an authentic and lasting friendship with God. Knowing and experiencing the truth and dignity of their existence, they will in return love and respect others. Everybody has a right and duty to seek and experience this truth. That is why our Catholic education is so important. Thank you for your support for Catholic education, especially our Catholic schools.
Fr. Paul D. Lee