Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continues to suffer will know also the power of his resurrection (cf. Phil 3: 10).
CC&RR, Constitution 4
From his earliest preaching Eugene constantly invited the poor to understand the transforming invitation of the resurrection in their lives.
Come now and learn from us what you are in the eyes of faith.
Poor of Jesus Christ, afflicted, wretched, suffering, sick, covered with sores, etc., all you whom misery oppresses, my brothers, dear brothers, respected brothers, listen to me.
You are God’s children, the brothers of Jesus Christ, heirs to his eternal kingdom, chosen portion of his inheritance; you are, in the words of St. Peter, a holy nation, you are kings, you are priests, you are in some way gods, You are gods, children of the Most High.
So lift up your spirits, that your defeated souls may breathe, grovel no longer on the ground: You are gods, children of the Most High. (Ps. 81:6).
Lift yourselves towards heaven where your minds should be set, our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), let your eyes see for once beneath the rags that cover you, there is within you an immortal soul made in the image of God whom it is destined to possess one day, a soul ransomed at the price of the blood of Jesus Christ, more precious in the eyes of God than all earth’s riches, than all the kingdoms of the earth, a soul of which he is more jealous than of the government of the entire universe.
Christians, know then your dignity, with St. Leo I will call you sharers in the divine nature,
Notes for the first instruction in the Church of the Madeleine, EO XV n. 114
“Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood, desiring that those in whom he continues to suffer will know also the power of his resurrection (cf. Phil 3: 10).” This is exactly how we live, how and why we seem unable to do anything other than share what we know to be. Seeing through the eyes of our crucified Saviour – only possible when we stand in the light and power of his resurrection! Looking at Constitution 4 in the light of the resurrection in a newer and deeper way that only my heart has seen before.
This morning Eugene speaks to me to once again: to ‘come and learn who I am in the eyes of faith’. Not a one-time, one-shot experience but rather ongoing; especially seen in the light of the resurrection. “You are gods, children of the Most High. […] Christians, know then your dignity… I will call you sharers in the divine nature” I listen to the words of his Lenten homily in the Church of the Madeleine and think not only of my own life, but of the ongoing misery and suffering of so many others in our world today. The unwarranted violence not just on Easter Sunday but that which is put upon people every day to keep them hostages of a few who want more power out of life at the cost of others.
I see in a new way this morning how we are an Easter people. I think of the quote by Chiara Lubich that I shared yesterday – the Cross and the Resurrection. This is the true power of the resurrection.
“Through the eyes of our crucified Saviour we see the world which he redeemed with his blood.”
I think the most difficult thing is to see. Then our neighbors and I we are struggling to see. Thus the current challenge that we are facing is to see or not to see, but Jesus is always seeking and seeings. This true is the hope for this Easter Season!