In the movie, “Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade,” there is a scene where the arch-villain has the opportunity to grasp eternal life if he can only choose the real chalice which Jesus used. Of course, he wrongly selects the most rich and jewel-encrusted chalice; and as we watch his horrible death, the ancient knight of the Holy Grail says, “He chose poorly.”

As newer Jesuits, we were exhorted towards “custody of the eyes,” that is to retain modesty where we look. It was common to tease each other about “custody of the eyes” when one of us might comment on the state of another’s room. Jesus also exhorts disciples, “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.” (MT 5:29)

Our commitment to fulfilling our Christian lives includes that of choosing well. But we cannot just see it as a choice to not sin as such. But it is because, if we choose to fill our lives, in this case our eyesight, with evil and things of darkness, this will deny us the ability to fill ourselves with things of grace and light. In the case of eyesight, as it is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” this incredible gift is an opportunity to receive the sensory richness of the Kingdom of God, or otherwise.

The first paragraph of this passage expresses this same idea differently, “For where your treasure is, there also will be your heart.” How we choose to see is an expression of what we treasure of the world, and thus where we place our imagination, our hope and ultimately our faith.

What kind of choices am I making in what I read, what I look at on the internet, what TV shows I watch?

—Fr. Glen Chun, S.J. serves in campus ministry at Loyola University Chicago and is also minister of the Loyola Jesuit Community.