The readings today are about vision.
Not eyesight.
Vision.
The ability to see what truly matters.
The ability to see reality as God sees it.
And the danger of becoming blind to what is most important.
In the Gospel Jesus says: “The lamp of the body is the eye.”
A healthy eye fills the whole body with light.
A diseased eye fills it with darkness.
At first, that sounds strange.
But Jesus is speaking about much more than physical sight.
He is speaking about what we focus our lives upon.
What we desire.
What we love.
What we pursue.
Because what fills our vision eventually fills our hearts.
The first reading gives us a dramatic example.
Athaliah seizes power.
The royal family is slaughtered.
The throne of David appears finished.
God’s promises seem lost.
Everything looks dark.
Yet hidden away in the Temple is a child.
Joash.
The rightful king.
Quietly protected.
Quietly preserved.
Quietly growing.
For six years almost nobody notices him.
But God has not forgotten.
God’s plan is still unfolding.
And eventually the hidden king is revealed.
The usurper falls.
The Temple is restored.
The people rejoice.
It is a reminder that things are not always as they appear.
At one level Athaliah seemed powerful.
Joash seemed insignificant.
But reality was the opposite.
One kingdom was passing away.
The other was God’s future.
That is exactly the point Jesus makes in the Gospel.
Human beings are often fascinated by the wrong things.
We become absorbed by what shines.
What impresses.
What attracts attention.
What promises success.
And we miss what really matters.
The world teaches us to fix our eyes on wealth.
Status.
Possessions.
Recognition.
The next purchase.
The next achievement.
The next success.
And yet all these things pass away.
Every possession eventually belongs to somebody else.
Every achievement fades.
Every earthly kingdom ends.
Jesus says:
“Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth.”
Not because earthly things are evil.
But because they are temporary.
A man can spend his whole life collecting things he cannot keep.
St Romuald understood this.
He was born into wealth and privilege.
He could have lived a comfortable life.
Respected.
Successful.
Admired.
Instead he walked away.
Not because he hated the world.
Because he saw something greater.
He realised that many people spend their lives pursuing treasures that cannot last.
While neglecting the one treasure that does.
Friendship with God.
Romuald sought silence.
Prayer.
Penance.
Solitude.
Not because he wanted to escape life.
But because he wanted to see clearly.
He wanted his eyes fixed upon Christ.
And perhaps that is something we desperately need today.
Because modern life is full of distractions.
Phones.
News.
Entertainment.
Endless noise.
Our attention is constantly being pulled in a hundred directions.
And little by little our spiritual vision grows weak.
That is why Jesus asks us to examine our eyes.
What am I looking at?
What am I pursuing?
What occupies my thoughts?
What am I living for?
Because where our treasure is, our heart will be also.
If our treasure is wealth, our heart will live there.
If our treasure is success, our heart will live there.
If our treasure is Christ, our heart will live there.
And this is not merely about money.
A poor person can be attached to possessions.
A wealthy person can be detached from them.
The real question is deeper.
What has first place in my life?
What would I be devastated to lose?
What do I trust most?
Athaliah trusted power.
Power vanished.
Romuald trusted God.
God remained.
One built her life upon something passing.
The other built his life upon something eternal.
Every day we make the same choice.
Not dramatically.
Not publicly.
Quietly.
In the decisions we make.
The priorities we set.
The time we give.
The prayers we say.
The sacrifices we accept.
The saints are not people who discovered a different Gospel.
They are people who finally believed it.
They believed that God is worth more than worldly success.
That heaven is worth more than earthly treasure.
That Christ is worth more than everything else.
And so today Jesus asks us a simple question.
What are you looking at?
What treasure are you pursuing?
What kingdom are you building?
Because the eye that is fixed on Christ becomes full of light.
And the heart that treasures Christ discovers a treasure that can never be taken away.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 