THROUGH THE EYES OF OUR CRUCIFIED SAVIOUR WE SEE OURSELVES AS HE SEES US (Constitution 4)

The cross of Jesus Christ is central to our mission. Like the apostle Paul, we “preach Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2: 2). If we bear in our body the death of Jesus, it is with the hope that the life of Jesus, too, may be seen in our body (cf. 2 Cor 4:10). 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). (Constitution 4)

Have you ever reflected on what Jesus Christ saw during the hours hung on the cross? How did he look at the people around him?

Eugene had that experience when his eyes met the eyes of the crucified Jesus, and his life changed.

Can I forget the bitter tears that the sight of the cross brought streaming from my eyes one Good Friday? Indeed they welled up from the heart, there was no checking them, they were too abundant for me to be able to hide them from those who like myself were assisting at that moving ceremony. I was in a state of mortal sin and it was precisely this that made me grieve.

But then, the Saviour’s merciful and healing gaze resulted in Eugene exclaiming:

Never was my soul more satisfied, never did it feel such happiness; for in the midst of this flood of tears, despite my grief, or rather through my grief, my soul took wings for its last end, towards God its only good whose loss it felt so keenly.

Retreat Journal, December 1814, O.W. XV n.13

Through the eyes of his crucified Saviour, Eugene describes this experience in other words:

Meditation on the prodigal son. To my shame, this parable never applied to anyone better than it does me… Did the thought even occur to me of going back to my father, this good father whose excessive tenderness I had so often put to the test? No, he had to come to me himself, thus crowning his gifts, to lift me up, and rescue me all heedless as I was, or rather he had to come and get me out of the mire in which I was immersed and from which I could not extract myself unaided. I hardly ever even conceived the wish to leave aside my rags and put on again my nuptial robe.

Retreat notes before his ordination, December 1811, O.W. XIV n.95

Through the eyes of his crucified Saviour, Eugene proclaimed:

Blessed, a thousand times blessed, that he, this good Father, notwithstanding my unworthiness, lavished on me all the richness of his mercy.

Retreat Journal, December 1814, O.W. XV n.130

REFLECTION

When the eyes of the crucified Saviour and my eyes meet, what happens…?