Treasures we eye, treasures we keep

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 19 June 2026
2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     Matthew 6:19-23

Thank you dear Lord for the last week,
thank you for this beautiful Friday
as you give us this sacred moment
to examine two vital organs
of our body:
our heart,
our eyes
the both lead us
to treasures we eye,
treasures we keep.

"For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be" (Matthew 6:21).

Guide me,
Jesus as I look inward
into my heart
to see what occupies it
most of the time,
what I value
and desire much daily in life,
the things and even persons
perhaps I hold onto,
protect and depend on
for meaning and security,
the things and people
I value most,
I treasure
more than you.

"The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be" (Matthew 6:22-23).

How lovely are your words,
Jesus,
because what we look at,
what we focus on
with our eyes
do not merely inform us
of what we see
but mostly shape our inner self,
filling our hearts
and thus
forming our sense of who we are;
what we look at,
what we choose to see
either lead us to light
or darkness
like Athaliah in the first
reading who was consumed with
wealth and power.

Teach me,
Jesus,
to focus my eyes
on those things
and persons
who can make me see you
more clearly,
love you more dearly,
and follow you more closely.
Amen.