UNDERGRADUATE

about God’s existence. In all this he discerns signs of
his spiritual soul. The soul, the “seed of eternity we
bear in ourselves, irreducible to the merely material,”
can have its origin only in God. 3
are the windows to the soul” proves true. Moreover, eyes
with their gaze towards God will reflect the human image of
God in their soul which is Jesus Christ; eyes with their gaze
towards the things of the world will reflect the filth of sin.
It is true that we bear in ourselves the seed of eternity,
irreducible to material. In recent centuries, many
philosophers have attempted to reduce man down to
material. They have used a form of digression to break
man down to atoms. This philosophy is focused on “how”
living beings work, rather than “why” they work.
This philosophy has caused many to equate man with
animal. It has endeavored to block the transcending of the
mind to the heights of God, reducing everything down to
material. In this philosophy, we have come to believe that the
human is equal to the animal, determining the only variance
to be intelligence. The eyes of the human tell us otherwise.
The eyes are the objects of one of our five senses: sight.
Through the eyes we see and perceive all that is around us.
We see both natural and man-made objects with our eyes.
They help us to do physical actions. These facts are true
to all animals.
Though, there is a key difference with the eyes of the
human: reason. The eyes of the human see, and then they
are able to make rational judgments. These judgments
are made either in accordance with or deviating from the
truth. This truth is the law written in every human heart by
the hand of God. 4
I was brought into greater perspective after a comment
from Sister Eta. She spoke of her numerous encounters
with the eyes of Jesus in the eyes of the poor. “It is because
they have suffered so much… They are united to Christ
without even knowing it.” Perhaps this is why Servant of
God, Father Emil Kapaun, said “Out of suffering emerge
the strongest souls.” Suffering united to God sanctifies the
soul, consequently, purifying the eyes.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati says, “Suffering that is
nourished by the flame of faith becomes something
beautiful.” Truly beautiful this suffering is as I saw it in the
eyes of so many souls in Calcutta. Eyes that pierce through
the impurities of the world is the sign of a soul that knows
how to suffer. The souls placed in the care of the Sisters
at the home for the dying may never have heard of Jesus
Christ, but He graciously brought them there and was
pleased to take His abode in them. “Abide in Me, and I in
you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides
in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” 5
I saw these eyes once more in another man at his death bed.
The sisters and volunteers were all surrounding him with
numerous prayers in his last moments. I was captivated at
this beautiful soul’s last breaths as his gaze transcended to
the heavens and expressed tremendous hope.
Thus, the eyes are strongly united to the soul: the eye
perceives and the rational soul chooses. The eye sees the
physical object and the soul sees the goodness of this
object. The eye and the soul work hand in hand.
If the human is more than a physical composite, and our
eyes are in cohesion with our souls, the saying: “the eyes
Sin makes the soul dull and virtue chisels the soul. Thus,
the virtuous soul has eyes that pierce through suffering
and the eyes of the soul that remains in sin become
glazed over with emptiness. The eyes of holiness possess
character and the eyes of sin possess boredom. The soul
filled with the grace of God will have a “sound eye” filling
the world with the light of Jesus Christ.
3 Catechism of the Catholic Church: 33.
4 2 Corinthians: 3:3.
5 John 15:4.
38 CREATING KNOWLEDGE