The Eyes of Love

28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 11, 2015

Mark 10:17-30

“Jesus, looking at him, loved him …(Mar 10:21)”

One thing that makes Jesus different from the rest of us is that His ability to see with the eyes of love. In this Gospel passage, we discover Jesus looked at the rich man who searched eternal life with love and indeed, Jesus loved him. This is the one of rare occasions in which the Evangelists explicitly depicted Jesus as the one who is in love. However, I do believe that Jesus’ eyes of love does not function only in this episode, but implicitly in many other stories in the Gospels.

Jesus saw Andrew and Simon on the shore and He loved them. He then called them to follow Him. Jesus saw prayerful Nathaniel under the fig tree, loved him and called him as the holy one of Israel. Jesus looked at the adulterous woman ready to be stoned, He loved her, forgave her sins and literally saved her from death. Jesus observed short Zacchaeus made a great effort to climb the tree and to see Him, He loved him and stayed at Zacchaeus’ house, bringing conversation to a lot of people. He saw her sorrowing mother from the wood of the cross, He loved her deeply and He entrusted her to His disciple, and we to her care as well.

The eyes of love empowers us to look beyond our ordinariness, and even our imperfections. In contrast, in our world that becomes more and more pragmatic in its orientation, we are just trained to judge people by their appearance, their monetary worth, and their ability to work and produce. The prettier, richer and more influential we are, the more people like to become our friends. In the school, we are appreciated in term of academic excellence. In our workplaces, we are assessed by the quality and quantity of what we produce or by position we hold.

Unconsciously, this pragmatic philosophy has entered into our ways of thinking and it is used as the basis of our judgment of most fundamental matters.  Unborn babies are not human beings because they are considered to be worthless and even hindrance to our productivity. Thus, it is OK to abort them. The elderly and the sick are no longer useful, then they may be disposed properly. The poor are seen us economic liabilities and feeding means uselessly spending tax-payers’ money. Thus, let them die on the streets, cold and naked.

This greedy eyes are directly opposed to the eyes of love because the eyes of love is not about what we do, make or produce, but about who we are. Jesus is neither a selfish profit-taker who sees us through the lens of profit, nor He is talent-scout who is able to observe our hidden potential for future gain.  Jesus is simply the Lover who loves us. And when we love truly, we no longer care whether they are rich or poor, handsome or ugly powerful or weak. We love, because we love. Simon, as we know, failed and even denied Jesus three times, other disciples ran away, and Thomas refused to believe in Jesus’ resurrection, but was Jesus wrong in loving and calling them? No! In fact, Jesus never gave up to love them despite their failure and weakness.

When our love relationship with our spouse, children or friends are colored by pain, problems, and difficulties, we know it is not the end, because we love them just like Jesus loves us. Once, I did not understand why a mother decided to give birth and take care of her special child with severe disabilities. But, now we know, because she just loves the way Jesus loves. Now, the challenges are ours. Are we ready to learn to see with the eyes of love? Do we have the courage to love the way Jesus loves?

Today also, the Filipino Dominicans are celebrating the feast day of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila, and special way, we ask her prayer so that just like her, we may have the eyes of Jesus and love the way Jesus loves.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP