“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” Matthew 16:17
Do we see … do we experience things through eyes of faith? Are we consistently viewing life through a lens that lacks hope and love, a lens that doesn’t go beyond seeing sadness and despair or do we view our life and the world around us as if a greater power is in control … that even as we continue to mess things up, a greater power will somehow bring forth goodness … a great power whose greatness will always thrive and be revealed? These are Peter’s eyes today, the eyes that Jesus praises him for having – viewing Christ not just as a man but God-man, He who is fully human and fully divine. Peter allowed the Spirit of God to see Jesus for who He truly is – God incarnate … God who became man to experience everything that man experiences except for sin … God who became man to show us how He calls us to live … and God who came to eventually die for our sins.
It’s with these eyes of faith that Peter chose to view his experience with Christ and eventually the world. For us, our hearts are made to see with “eyes of faith,” and we, like Peter, recognize these eyes and seek to encounter the world with these eyes, no matter how vicious the world could be. Peter’s response reveals something of love and hope, choosing to see and experience Jesus as the powerful answer to the deception, bitterness, and hopelessness in the world. Much like Saint Augustine, who the Church remembers this week and whose eyes were challenged as he tried to make sense of the world. It wasn’t until he encountered Christ in his life that he was able to submit to the eyes of faith, and for him, it was a lengthy journey to faith, one that with time and persistent prayers from his mother, Saint Monica, who the church also commemorates this week, brought him to the same vision as Peter. This week, let us ask for the intercessions of these two saints – that we may always have our eyes clear to see and experience hope and love around us so that we too may persevere with eyes of faith. Saint Augustine and Saint Monica … pray for us.
Finally, I want to thank Fr. Tony for his assistance and dedication to our community. He has shared with us a good example of faith through a life of prayer and ministering to others. Many blessings to him as he starts his new assignment.
In Christ
Fr Robert Marquez
Parochial Administrator – Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Community