1 Sam 3:3-10, 19 / 1 Cor 6:13-15, 17-20 / John 1:35-42
The current requirement to wear face masks whenever we are going out of our homes has its advantages as well as disadvantages.
One thing for sure is that as long as we are wearing a mask, we are compliant and law-abiding good citizens.
We can also mouth a lot of words and expressions and others will not know it, especially if those expressions and words are not that pleasant.
And if we ever forget to brush our teeth, then we better keep the mask on at all times.
But if our devices and gadgets have face recognition, then we may be locked out if we are wearing a face mask.
And with the mask on we can’t really recognize people with a glance, especially if they’re wearing a cap or change their hairstyle.
We will have to look hard and even stare hard at the person, and it is not that polite to do so for too long.
Oh yes, nowadays we have to look carefully before we know who the person is, or who it is that we are talking to.
In the gospel, we hear of three incidents that required visual discernment.
When John was with two of his disciples, Jesus passed by and John stared hard at Him.
And then he said, “Look, there is the Lamb of God.” Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus.
When Jesus saw them following Him, He asked, “What do you want?” And they replied, “Rabbi, where do you live?” And Jesus replied, “Come and see.” So, they went and saw where He lived and stayed with Him the rest of that day.
And then the next day, when Andrew brought Simon to Jesus, Jesus looked hard at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John; you are to be called Cephas (meaning Rock).”
The Gospel highlighted the power of sight, and with visual discernment comes about a revelation.
In other words, there is more than meets the eye, and we may have to look hard, or even stare hard before we can see clearer and even see deeper.
It is just like nowadays, with people wearing masks, we have to look hard before we can recognize who they are.
What we see only their eyes, and so nowadays we can say that there is a lot of eye contact.
And eye contact is important in communication because the eyes are the windows to the heart.
With or without mask, our eyes and the eyes of the other person can say quite a bit and even reveal quite a bit.
John looked into the eyes of Jesus in saw Him as the Lamb of God. The two disciples look into the eyes of Jesus and saw Him as the Messiah. Jesus looked into the eyes of Simon and saw him as the Rock on which He will build the Church.
Our eyes reveal to us what we desire in what we are looking at. The 2nd reading warns us about fornication, but it begins with looking which turns into lusting.
We must have custody of our eyes and to train our eyes to see only what God wants us to see.
When we read the Bible, we are like having an eye-to-eye contact with God. We read God’s Word, and God’s Word enters into our hearts through our eyes, which are the windows of our hearts, and we enter into a union with God.
When we look into the eyes of the other person, we may also come to see that what we really desire is for a sincere and honest communication that will lead to understanding and communion.
We may realise that when we are in an argument with a person, we avoid looking into the eyes of that person because our eyes are burning with anger.
May we also see that every person is created in the image of God.
Let us look at them with eyes of love and we will see Jesus looking at us with His eyes of love.