A Polyptych Moment

Dear Friends,

In art, a polyptych is a piece made up of several connected images or panels. You can look at the whole and see complexity, or you can let your eyes settle on just one part. What you focus on determines what you see.

This past weekend, sitting at a red light, I experienced a polyptych moment of my own. As I looked to my right, there were many images, but I focused on just one: my wife. In that moment everything else faded away, and all I could see was her, and my heart was full. I could have focused on many images, but none of them would have brought me the joy I felt as I looked at the smile on Carolyn’s face.

The light turned green. I drove on and thought about what had just happened. The whole world seemed to disappear for that moment, and nothing mattered except what I was focused on. As I continued reflecting, I remembered the words from Hebrews 12: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” The word fix comes from a Greek term meaning to concentrate your focus—literally, to look away from other things so that you can place all your attention on one object.

Our eyes, mind, and heart are all like a fine camera lens. With them we can choose where we focus, what we focus on, and what we block out. The great hymn tells us to “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

We all face many distractions in life that can pull our attention in every direction, causing us to miss the true image we are meant to see. My prayer is that we remain focused, fixing our eyes, heart, and mind on Christ. And as we do, that our hearts become full of the love of Christ. And may the distractions of this world grow strangely dim as we focus on His great glory and grace.

Blessings,

Joseph E. Sanelli

Parish Administrator