The Eyes of Our Heart

Dear Friend,

This Sunday the celebration of the feast of the Ascension of the Lord will redirect and refocus our eyes. Like those of the disciples, our eyes too will move from what is no more to what’s in front of us, and to what’s yet to be. “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” is the famous question of the angels standing near the disciples on the mountain outside Jerusalem. 

At 10 a.m. on Sunday, we will gather as a parish in the bracing morning air. We will pray together on our Mission hilltop, between the mountains and the sea. We will hear the words attributed to Saint Paul summoning us to a new vision and a new way of going out into the world: May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones (us!), and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe… Paul moves us from the eyes of our head to the eyes of our heart.

When the Word made flesh touched the life of Paul, all that he had given his life to with such zeal seemed a total loss. He was given a new inheritance, a new life in Christ. For us too, whatever we have lost through illness, death, or through our own bad choices has been touched by the creative power of God through the body of Christ. We are offered a gift by God, and it flows from our Eucharist. We can evangelize like St. Francis by receiving it in gratitude, offering it generously to others, and humbly experiencing our own transformation.   

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm, Pastor