HIS eyes are upon us ...

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

on those who hope in his steadfast love."

- Hebrews 4:12-13

I witnessed something unusual yesterday morning at St. John Vianney Church in Kailua.  It happened during the recitation of the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet with a small group of parishioners who routinely gather to pray before the Tabernacle after Mass.

On the wall, behind and above the Tabernacle is a life-sized wooden crucifix; something I've become very familiar with in the past 30+ years.  I've looked up at it on countless occasions and like most crucifixes, it depicts our suffering Saviour on it.  I've never noticed anything unusual about it until yesterday.

Shortly after the Rosary Prayer began, I glanced up at the crucifix and reflected on the figure of Jesus seemingly gazing down at the group ... then, towards the end of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I saw the eyes were closed.  It was so odd because the pupils were clearly visible earlier.

I initially dismissed it as my imagination, but I had snapped several photos and may have captured what I saw in-person ...

Now it may have been a trick of the light, but it sure looked eerie in person, and I've never seen the corpus appear like that before.

So did it have anything to do with the current state of the world?  Coincidentally, war erupted between Iran and the USA, Israel, and other Middle Eastern countries on the very same day.

For this blogger, it makes sense that Jesus is deeply saddened by the current state of the world - the growing godlessness; narcissistic and hedonistic ideologies; blatant public displays of satanic and occult influences; ongoing multiple wars; persecution of Christians, etc.  Hence, we are being given many extraordinary signs all over the world - via reported apparitions, weeping images, Eucharistic Miracles, etc. - indicating Heaven's concern for us.

For those who discern the "signs of the times", perhaps we are being invited to step up with more intercessory prayers and voluntary sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, including ourselves.  With Lent in full swing, now is a good time to reflect and respond accordingly.  Our Jesus, whose merciful gaze is ever upon us, is certainly listening.

"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry."

- Psalm 33:18