Light
One
In John’s Gospel, St. John identifies the light of the world with Jesus. But then he offers these sobering words, “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and refuses to come into the light lest his deeds be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God” (Jn 3:19-21). The good and bad deeds done by souls in this world each are connected to Jesus; the good receive their goodness and reward from Him and His light shines through them. The wicked try to hide their deeds from Him so that they can avoid exposure. This is the function of the Light of Christ: source AND/OR exposure for deeds.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus reveals in the sermon on the mount that His desire is to share His Light with His disciples so that what is said about Him is said about us. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid” (Mt 6:14). Then he exhorts us to let our light “shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Mt 6: 16). The meaning of these passages is clear: Christ is the source of all good deeds in the world. These deeds act as light. Rejection of Christ is the source of all wickedness which acts as darkness. We are called to let Jesus shine through our good acts. However, it is the nature of wickedness to seek to overcome the light, which is impossible, but the wicked will try to extinguish the light by force, whether through intimidation, imprisonment, or death. Thus, do evil men pass judgement and sentence upon God’s goodness. Nevertheless, we are called to let our light shine before others without being intimidated, because light always casts out the night.
Two
Wickedness cannot overcome the light. By putting to death Christ and his followers, the wicked think that they can wrest control of this world from God and do with it as they please. The word wicked is an Anglo-Saxon word that means to bend, as in the case of bending twigs to make a wicker basket. The temptation offered by Satan in the garden was the temptation to bend reality according to one’s will. He tempted Adam and Eve to decide for themselves good and evil, to bend reality according to their wills, to become ‘like god.’ Adam and Eve acted on this temptation. The ensuing sin, the original sin, brings death. To save us from this fate, this sin also draws the Eternal Son down from heaven to become flesh and to dwell among us and save us. His crucifixion, thus, is the ultimate Satanic attempt to rebel against the light, to enforce perpetual darkness, and destroy the nature of goodness by force of will. Just when Satan thought he won, though, he failed, and lost everything. Thus, does light expose the darkness proving that it cannot overcome. “…for once you were darkness but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good, right, and true” (Eph 5:8-9).
Three
Our light must not be hidden under a basket. We can’t allow fear, ignorance, or corruption to shroud the glow of the Gospel in our hearts. Our wills can act as either doors or windows. We can either let the light of Christ shine through us, or we can close it in. This is the weight of freedom. The Sacraments do not force our choice automatically. Jesus leaves us free, but we must persevere to the end to be saved. In his book Divine Intimacy, Fr. Gabriel says that “to become a saint, it is not enough to become courageous and patient and to practice the other virtues for a few days or a few months or even a few years. We must persevere in these dispositions to the end of our life, never yielding to fatigue, discouragement, or laxity” (Divine Intimacy, p 851). The Lord knows that the way that leads to salvation is steep and narrow, but He also knows how to encourage and console us. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:28-30). As Mother Theresa reminded us, Jesus doesn’t expect success, only fidelity.
Four
The way of Christ is the way of the Cross. The light of Christ is the light of the Cross. The cross is heavy, but the weight of sin is heavier. I remember when I was in the military and was not practicing my faith, I lived for the weekend and the next party. Weekends were awash in foolishness and stupidity with my buddies, until one night, I remember saying to myself, “is this all there is?” The pleasurable highs were not as high as the lows were low. The monotony of the weekends terrorized me. Was this it? At the time, I simply didn’t know where to turn. The life of Jesus seemed too difficult and too farfetched for me. Little did I know, this was Christ’s way of preparing me to be light, albeit by experiencing the anguish of the darkness. I would discover in due time what St. Thérèse the Little Flower realized, “I discovered that Christ dwells in me all the time, guiding me and inspiring me whenever I do or say anything. A light, of which I caught no glimmer before, comes to me at the very moment of need” (Quotable Saints, p.214).
Five
Author Caryll Houselander offers this insight, “Sometimes it may seem to us that there is no purpose in our lives, that going day after day for years to this office or that school or factory is nothing else but waste and weariness. But it may be that God has sent us there because but for us, Christ would not be there. If our being there means that Christ is there, that alone makes it worthwhile.” (Rocking horse Catholic, p 74). Jesus gives us the support we need to accomplish this task of being light. He gives us prayer and Sacraments. He gives us friendship and community. He gives us truth for our hearts and minds. He gives us a mission so that our lives have purpose. We must respond, however. This is the purpose of the Movement. In closing, let us remember these words of Jesus, “In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. For I have overcome the world!” (Jn 16:33).