You are the Light of the World
Pastor’s Column
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 5, 2017
This August there will be a total eclipse of the sun coming right over our church. People travel all over the world to see this and all we will have to do is to just go outside (assuming there are no clouds!). Day will turn to night for about 2 to 3 minutes and we will see the corona of the sun. Notice how the darkness will then disappear as soon as the sun begins to peek through the shadow of the moon. I can't wait to see this!
The world without the gospel is a world in darkness. It doesn't know the truth of how things really are. What is that truth? First of all, that we are created beings. This world has a maker -- a person -- who actually sustains it in being. Quite a few people are going to be shocked to discover this on the last day of their lives and, in the process, will also realize too late that they have missed many incredible opportunities that life presented them while they were in their body on earth.
What is the truth of the world? That God sent his only son in the fullness of time --Jesus Christ -- a timeless eternal being without beginning or end who became a human being for our sake. Now, in heaven, having suffered on earth for 33 years, he calls us children of God. He promised us that we would have eternal life if we believe in him.
What part of your life will shine most brightly in the next world? It surely will not be the amount of money we made or how beautiful or “successful” we were on earth. It may be the wounds that we have suffered for love of someone else, just as light shines forth from Christ’s own wounds. It may be what we have endured for the gospel and the times that we took risks for God. It may be the small acts of kindness that we did. Such things as these will be how we manifested the light of the gospel while on earth.
Do I live in the darkness of the world? Or the light? Most of us struggle between the two. We are called more and more to be beings of light -- and that means that God will be polishing the mirror, or cleaning the windowpanes of our soul regularly and we assist in this by making a good confession, and by evaluating our lives regularly to see if we are making a difference in the world. Each person is in some way called to be different than the pagans around us that don't know God. How are you a light in the world? Does Christ's light -- the light of the future -- shine through you and me? That's a good question to be asking ourselves this week.
Father Gary
