Jesus looked at him and loved him. Mark 10:21
Before we can struggle with loving others like Jesus loves them, it might be best to begin by first looking at them. Sometimes our lives have become so self-absorbed that no matter what we might see with our eyes, in reality we are merely looking at ourselves. Jesus looked at him. Truth is, if you read the text you’ll notice that even this man was looking at himself (“what must I do to inherit eternal life?” he asks). Jesus tries to get him to look at the poor around him and yet he went away sad because he was unwilling to look away from the “me” that was him. The love of Jesus is found in this, He looked away to look at us – at you – and in seeing you couldn’t help but love you. Not because you deserved His love – heavens no! But rather because seeing you He noticed how much you needed His love. Jesus, help us to look at others and see the same. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This is also in Mt 19 (:16). 'Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?'
ReplyDeleteJPII talked about this in his Encyclical Veritatis Splendor here.
(my new blog: Cathorick)