The ‘Eyes’ have it; Part III

So far in the past two issues, you have read about my thoughts, maybe some of the simple blunders of Peter, and how Christ, through the love, forgiveness and compassion in His eyes and words, brought Peter back to reality. Of course Peter did not always stick his foot in is mouth, but quite often had it all together. Which leads me to the conclusion of this series.

We have read about how, when Peter denied Christ three times, Christ’s glance was filled with compassion, forgiveness and most of all, love. We have thought about Peter -- on the mountain during the Transfiguration, and at the Last Supper, during the washing of the feet, and how Christ, with his infinite love and compassion continued to guide and instruct Peter. We can learn so much from the lessons Christ gave to Peter.

But in turn, we too can learn so much from Peter. For myself, it is the times that Peter seemed to have it all together that are the most powerful and provide true lessons for growth in my ministry to the youth of the diocese, life in general, and my commitment to my Catholic faith.

Jesus had spoken to the people and had told them, "I am the bread of life." And of course when they heard this, they turned back and would not follow Jesus any more. So Jesus asked the disciples, "And you, would you also like to leave?" And here we go -- Peter said to Jesus, "Lord to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life."

I wonder what Jesus thought at that very moment? Was he totally awestruck by the wisdom of Peter? Did Jesus in a sense have an "ah-ha’ moment, thinking wow, I think he has finally got it? You know, something similar to what we as parents think and feel when our children have and share one of their "ah-ha" moments in life. I wonder what Christ’s glance was at this very moment? Visualize for a moment the love and compassion in his eyes, as Peter spoke these profound words.

For myself, this is one of my primary goals for youth ministry and the youth of the Diocese of Dodge City. My guess is that at some point in our lives, we have had our "ah-ha" moments. We have had this transformation, this change of heart, which has led us more deeply into our Catholic Faith. My hope is that together, we can do the same for our youth. That we can help them discover the same thing Peter discover, the one thing that has not changed, Jesus still has the "Words that lead to eternal life."

How about it; can we together look at our young people with Christ like Eyes, of love, compassion and forgiveness? Can we offer a glance and an invitation to our young people and say, "come and follow me, to the person of Jesus Christ, the one who has and offers the words of eternal life?