"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. I joined a small group of parishioners who routinely gather near the Tabernacle, after Mass, to pray the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and other prayers.
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 that I've looked at it on countless occasions, I've never noticed anything unusual about it until yesterday ...
Shortly after the Rosary Prayer began, I looked up at the crucifix on the wall and saw that the figure of Jesus seemed to have opened its eyes (they are normally closed) ... then, towards the end of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I saw the eyes were closed again.
I would've dismissed it as my imagination, but it was so obvious because the pupils were clearly visible. Besides, I took several photos and managed to capture what I saw in-person ...
Now it may have been a trick of the light, but it sure looked eerily real in person, and I've never seen it like that before ... and look closely at the photo with the eyes open (right) - the gaze on that corpus is so expressively sorrowful and suffering, compared to its normal appearance (left) in which our Lord appears to be peacefully expired. Plus, His expression on the right, despite being grieved, also somehow manages to convey love and compassion. It's truly remarkable.
So does it have anything to do with the current state of the world? (Coincidentally, war justed erupted with Iran on the same day)
For this blogger, it makes perfect sense that Jesus is saddened by the general state of mankind - there is growing godlessness; narcissistic and hedonistic ideologies; blatant public displays of satanic and occult influences; ongoing multiple wars; persecution of Christians, etc. ... so it seems we are being given many extraordinary signs all over the world concerning Heaven's distress.
For those who discern these "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, it's a good time to reflect and respond accordingly. Our Jesus, whose eyes are ever upon us, is certainly listening ... and is consoled. Great graces will follow!
"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry."
- Psalm 33:18
