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Friday, June 17, 2005

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2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30
Psalm 34
Matthew 6:19-23

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eye of the hurricane

"If your eyes are good, your body will be filled with light." —Matthew 6:22-23

Are your eyes good? Good eyes see only what God wants them to see. Good eyes do not look around carelessly. That's too dangerous. Good eyes are selective. We close our eyes lest we look on evil (Is 33:15). It's important to protect them from the evil one. We must hold faith up as a shield (Eph 6:16), or be hit in the eye and be wounded.

Our eyes and thoughts "should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise" (Phil 4:8). Otherwise, we will carelessly expose ourselves to temptation. The forbidden fruit of sin is "pleasing to the eyes" (Gn 3:6). We will be tempted to treasure it and fall into sin. "Remember, where your treasure is, there your heart is also" (Mt 6:21).

Jesus emphasized controlling our eyes to the point of saying, "If your right eye is your trouble, gouge it out and throw it away! Better to lose part of your body than to have it all cast into Gehenna" (Mt 5:29). Girl-watching or boy-watching are not summer sports; rather, they are gambling with eternal salvation and damnation. Immodest dress is extremely serious. Indiscriminate TV viewing is Russian roulette. An afternoon "sight-seeing" at the pool could lead to an eternity in the fires of Gehenna. Jesus is not over-reacting. He is the Truth (Jn 14:6); we must repent and change.

Prayer:  Jesus, I accept You as Lord and Savior of my eyes.

Promise:  "Do not lay up for yourselves an earthly treasure." —Mt 6:19

Praise:  Joan got rid of her television and replaced it with her Bible.

Reference:  (Train your eyes to be good by reading the Bible daily. To help, we have a forty-tape audio series of teachings on the New Testament. To start, order the four tapes covering Matthew, #700, 701, 702, and 703.)

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 20, 2004

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