Today the Lord tells us that "the lamp of the body is the eye" (Mt 6: 22). Saint Thomas Aquinas understands that, when speaking of the eye, Jesus refers to man's intentions. When the intention is upright, lucid, directed to God, all our actions are brilliant, resplendent; but when the intention is not upright, how great is the darkness! (cf. Mt 6:23).

Our intention may be unrighteous due to malice, due to evil, but more often it is due to lack of good sense. We live as if we had come into the world to accumulate wealth and we have no other thought in our minds. Earn money, buy, provide, possess. We want others to admire us, or perhaps to envy us. We deceive ourselves; we suffer, we are burdened with worries and troubles, and we do not find the happiness we seek. But Jesus makes another proposal: "Store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal." (Mt 6:20). Heaven is the barn of good deeds; and this sure is a forever lasting treasure.

Let us be honest with ourselves, where do we put our efforts? Certainly, it is proper for a good Christian to study and work honestly to make his way in the world, to raise a family, to ensure the future of his own and the peace of mind of his old age, to work also out of a desire to help others.... Yes, all this is proper for a good Christian. But if what you seek is to have more and more, putting your heart into these riches, forgetting about good deeds, forgetting that in this world we are just passing through, that our life is a passing shadow, is it not true -then- that our eye is in darkness? And if common sense is blinded," how great will the darkness be" (Mt 6:23).