Seeing with God's Eyes

Athaliah, dowager queen mother, as depicted in Antoine Dufour’s Vie des femmes célèbres, c. 1505 in the Dobrée Museum, Nantes, France

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or our first point, let us begin with the Gospel. Jesus says: "For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be" (Mt 6:21).

At first glance, this passage seems to be about possessions. But at a deeper level, it is about vision. What we treasure reveals how we see the world. The things we value most shape our priorities, our choices, and ultimately our lives.

In The Little Prince, the fox tells the Little Prince, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." The fox echoes what the Gospel is revealing. The heart becomes a kind of lens. If our hearts are fixed only on success, recognition, comfort, or power, then that is all we will notice. But if our hearts treasure God, compassion, friendship, forgiveness, and love, we begin to see these hidden realities everywhere.

Pope Francis often reminds us that in every field of life there can be no genuine change unless our motivations change first. I quote:

lf we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs.” (Laudato Si' 11)

Jesus invites us to cultivate God's way of seeing. "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Sam 16:7).

For our second point, let us reflect on the first reading. It is closely connected to what we have just heard in the Gospel. Jesus teaches us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. But the first reading shows us what can happen when the heart becomes blinded by false treasures. A heart can be misguided. When ambition, power, fear, or selfishness take possession of the heart, they distort the way we see and the choices we make.

The household of King Ahaziah was a household of competing forces. There was dowager queen mother Athaliah, whose desire for power and control was so ruthless that she put to death even her own grandchildren. But there was also the courage of Jehosheba, the faithfulness of Jehoiada, and the hidden hope represented by the child Joash, the future king.

The story reminds us that every household has its struggles.

Athaliah allowed her desire for power to become her treasure. Because her heart was fixed on power, she became blind to everything else—even to the value of human life.

Yet the story also reveals something beautiful. God protects what is good. For six years Joash remained hidden in the Temple while Athaliah appeared to have all the power. Yet God was quietly preserving the future.

The same thing happens in the spiritual life. During a retreat, many interior movements emerge. Some lead us away from God, while others draw us closer to Him. The task of discernment is to recognize which movements come from God and which do not.

For our third and final point, let us return to the Gospel. Jesus says:

"The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light" (Mt 6:23).

This last verse of the Gospel today is an invitation to protect the lamp of the body, or the spiritual eye. This eye is more than physical sight. It needs guidance. Because, "if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be" (Mt 6:23). Our spiritual eye needs to be formed, purified, and guided. Otherwise, as Jesus warns us, darkness can slowly take the place of light. How do we protect this lamp? Through prayer, we can protect that lamp within us. A clear eye helps us recognize the voice of Athaliah and the voice of Jehoiada within our own hearts. It helps us recognize the hidden Joash—the fragile but authentic self that God is quietly nurturing. Amen. Fr JM Manzano SJ