Proverbs 3:27-34
Psalm 15:2-5
Luke 8:16-18
Jesus wants all his little lamps to be shining on lampstands. He did not give us the faith, hope, and love just for our benefit. He wants to show us off. For every person who has faith in this world, a number of others are encouraged in their doubts. For every person who has hope, a number of others are no longer afraid. For every person who has love, a very great number of others are brought closer to God. A real saint does not go through this world without impact. They are like a lamp in a dark place: everyone else is lit up just by being in their presence.
How should we evaluate the Church? If we focus on the great sinners, those who have given real scandal to the Church, our claim to holiness will seem to be debunked. For every St. Francis or St. Therese, there is a wicked person who has given the Church a bad name. But this does not actually balance out. If there is a wicked person in the Church, I am not surprised. There are wicked people everywhere, and the Church’s membership requirements are pretty flimsy. All the wicked people in the world cannot cancel out one Saint. The existence of each Saint is enough to prove the faith. They found something; therefore, there must be something to find.
Just as it is not enough for the Saints to be holy for their own sake, but rather they have to be shining lamps on lampstands, it is not enough for us to see them and enjoy their light, we must take their existence as an invitation to become like them. It is nice to be in the light, it is better to be a light. Is this possible? Absolutely. The graces of God are not reserved for a few chosen people. The thing is to get started. No one can become a Saint overnight. The way is hard. It is very difficult to follow the narrow path between laxity and extremism. No one can become a Saint by their own effort and intellect. The law, the proverbs, all these instructions here are not enough. The end is clouded, but we do not need to see the end, just the next step. Wherever we are on the journey, God, right now, is giving us everything we need to take the next step. To those who have, more will be given.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Light. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Light. Show all posts
May 10, 2012 - Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Acts 15:7-21
Psalm 96:1-3, 10
John 15:9-11
Acts of Apostles has been relating the story of the most difficult controversy in the early Church: whether a Christian is a Jew who follows Jesus or just a follower of Jesus. We saw last week how the message spread beyond the Jews to the Gentiles, but the question remained whether the Gentiles, in order to be good Christians had to follow the Jewish law.
There are many arguments in favor of this idea. Jesus is a Jew. He followed the Jewish law. The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are the same God. Christians still read the Old Testament, which is filled with laws about being clean and unclean. So it should not surprise us that a number of Christians believed that all Christians should follow the Jewish laws.
Peter, in his role as the head of the Apostles, stands up and reminds those Christians why they are wrong. He does not try to find a compromise or settle the disagreement. He stands up and explains the Gospel all over again. Jesus has saved all of humanity. His salvation is the only salvation for all peoples. Peter reminds his fellow Jewish Christians that they are not saved because they follow the traditions of their ancestors.
All who are saved, are saved because of faith in Jesus Christ. There is only one way, one truth, one life: The Old Testament, which contains all the regulations of the Law, is the word of God, expressed through human beings. For a time it was the only light by which anyone could see God. Jesus Christ, however, is the Word of God incarnate. The light of the Gospel outshines the light of the old Law as the sun outshines a candle. The Law was good, but it has been replaced by something greater.
The Old Law was a series of commandments, some forbidding evil actions, some regulating rituals. This Law was a burden, as St. Peter says, “a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear.” The New Law is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a burden; he lifts us up to God. By the power of the Holy Spirit we become people who do what is good without any law. The Law was not enough, but the Holy Spirit is enough. He is everything we need. When the sun is out, we do not need candles. When we have the real thing, we need no imitations. When we have the Holy Spirit, we do not need the old Law.
Psalm 96:1-3, 10
John 15:9-11
Acts of Apostles has been relating the story of the most difficult controversy in the early Church: whether a Christian is a Jew who follows Jesus or just a follower of Jesus. We saw last week how the message spread beyond the Jews to the Gentiles, but the question remained whether the Gentiles, in order to be good Christians had to follow the Jewish law.
There are many arguments in favor of this idea. Jesus is a Jew. He followed the Jewish law. The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are the same God. Christians still read the Old Testament, which is filled with laws about being clean and unclean. So it should not surprise us that a number of Christians believed that all Christians should follow the Jewish laws.
Peter, in his role as the head of the Apostles, stands up and reminds those Christians why they are wrong. He does not try to find a compromise or settle the disagreement. He stands up and explains the Gospel all over again. Jesus has saved all of humanity. His salvation is the only salvation for all peoples. Peter reminds his fellow Jewish Christians that they are not saved because they follow the traditions of their ancestors.
All who are saved, are saved because of faith in Jesus Christ. There is only one way, one truth, one life: The Old Testament, which contains all the regulations of the Law, is the word of God, expressed through human beings. For a time it was the only light by which anyone could see God. Jesus Christ, however, is the Word of God incarnate. The light of the Gospel outshines the light of the old Law as the sun outshines a candle. The Law was good, but it has been replaced by something greater.
The Old Law was a series of commandments, some forbidding evil actions, some regulating rituals. This Law was a burden, as St. Peter says, “a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear.” The New Law is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a burden; he lifts us up to God. By the power of the Holy Spirit we become people who do what is good without any law. The Law was not enough, but the Holy Spirit is enough. He is everything we need. When the sun is out, we do not need candles. When we have the real thing, we need no imitations. When we have the Holy Spirit, we do not need the old Law.
April 18, 2012 - Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
Today's Readings
"And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil." Between darkness and light, it is clear that light is better. People only prefer darkness when they have a secret, when they have something to hide. We all have secrets. There are things about each one of us that the world does not know. The question is whether we would welcome the light that would reveal our works to the world. If our secrets are about things we are not proud of, we would rather have them stay in darkness. If our secrets are about things that we are proud of, we will welcome the light.
For instance, perhaps you have helped someone. Maybe even that person never realized how much work you did to help them. Certainly no one else is aware of how helpful you were. You do not walk around bragging about helping people, but if this was revealed you would not be embarrassed. If, however, you have some secret sin that no one but God knows about, you will not be glad to hear that everything you have done will be revealed to the world.
Real life is more complicated of course. We all have secret sins we are ashamed of. We all have secret ways in which we were good that we would be glad to have revealed. Beyond this, we do not really even know ourselves very well. When all is revealed, we will be just as suprised at how our sins and our good works add up. When the light comes, nothing will be hidden anymore.
St. John says that people preferred darkness. He does not say "some people". We all prefer darkness. None of us have done such good things that we would stand up to the scrutiny of the light. We would not mind if more people knew how good we have been, so long as no one also knew how bad we have been. What we need is humility. When we have real humility we will not fear the light which is truth anymore. What is the truth? We are sinners, but God loves us. Once we have real humility we will not put so much value on hiding our sins and show off our good works. When the light comes it will show how weak we are, but we will not be embarrased. We will not be thinking about ourselves at all.
"And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil." Between darkness and light, it is clear that light is better. People only prefer darkness when they have a secret, when they have something to hide. We all have secrets. There are things about each one of us that the world does not know. The question is whether we would welcome the light that would reveal our works to the world. If our secrets are about things we are not proud of, we would rather have them stay in darkness. If our secrets are about things that we are proud of, we will welcome the light.
For instance, perhaps you have helped someone. Maybe even that person never realized how much work you did to help them. Certainly no one else is aware of how helpful you were. You do not walk around bragging about helping people, but if this was revealed you would not be embarrassed. If, however, you have some secret sin that no one but God knows about, you will not be glad to hear that everything you have done will be revealed to the world.
Real life is more complicated of course. We all have secret sins we are ashamed of. We all have secret ways in which we were good that we would be glad to have revealed. Beyond this, we do not really even know ourselves very well. When all is revealed, we will be just as suprised at how our sins and our good works add up. When the light comes, nothing will be hidden anymore.
St. John says that people preferred darkness. He does not say "some people". We all prefer darkness. None of us have done such good things that we would stand up to the scrutiny of the light. We would not mind if more people knew how good we have been, so long as no one also knew how bad we have been. What we need is humility. When we have real humility we will not fear the light which is truth anymore. What is the truth? We are sinners, but God loves us. Once we have real humility we will not put so much value on hiding our sins and show off our good works. When the light comes it will show how weak we are, but we will not be embarrased. We will not be thinking about ourselves at all.
August 30, 2011 - Tuesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
St. Paul, in this reading from his First Letter to the Thessalonians, encourages us not to sleep like the rest of the world. Sleeping means not trying. He also says that we are not of in darkness, for we are children of light. Darkness makes a person want to sleep. Darkness is hopelessness. Hopelessness makes us want to stop trying. Light is hope. We are children of hope.
What kind of hope? Not a false hope. St. Paul has just warned us that “when people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ then sudden disaster comes upon them.” This is the false hope on which the world hangs its dreams. False hope is more assumption than hope. It starts innocently enough, we wake up in the morning and assume that the floor is still there. We breathe air and just assume that there is oxygen in it. We go to work, and we assume that we will get paid. We get in an elevator and assume that we will not plummet to our deaths. We must do all this assuming, because the alternative is being paranoid to the point of insanity.
But then we extend these assumptions to other matters. We put money away in a retirement account and assume that it will still be there in thirty years. We live in America, so we assume that no army will ever invade our home. We go to the grocery store and assume that there will be food available for a price we can pay. We make these assumptions, yet how many counter-examples throughout the world should give us pause! Our safety and security seems so rock-solid, but it is really a fragile soap bubble in time destined to eventually pop.
When someone puts their hope in this world, they are in darkness. They think that they are awake; they are working so hard; they are exhausted every day, but they are really just dreaming; they are asleep. If you put in an eight hour shift in your dreams one night, no one will actually pay you no matter how tired you are. If you work hard for a worldly hope, even if you do not live through war or famine, the world will fail to actually pay you.
We are children of the light. Our hope is founded in reality, and it will not disappoint. Now if only we could work as hard for our real salvation as the world does for it ephemeral rewards.
St. Paul, in this reading from his First Letter to the Thessalonians, encourages us not to sleep like the rest of the world. Sleeping means not trying. He also says that we are not of in darkness, for we are children of light. Darkness makes a person want to sleep. Darkness is hopelessness. Hopelessness makes us want to stop trying. Light is hope. We are children of hope.
What kind of hope? Not a false hope. St. Paul has just warned us that “when people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ then sudden disaster comes upon them.” This is the false hope on which the world hangs its dreams. False hope is more assumption than hope. It starts innocently enough, we wake up in the morning and assume that the floor is still there. We breathe air and just assume that there is oxygen in it. We go to work, and we assume that we will get paid. We get in an elevator and assume that we will not plummet to our deaths. We must do all this assuming, because the alternative is being paranoid to the point of insanity.
But then we extend these assumptions to other matters. We put money away in a retirement account and assume that it will still be there in thirty years. We live in America, so we assume that no army will ever invade our home. We go to the grocery store and assume that there will be food available for a price we can pay. We make these assumptions, yet how many counter-examples throughout the world should give us pause! Our safety and security seems so rock-solid, but it is really a fragile soap bubble in time destined to eventually pop.
When someone puts their hope in this world, they are in darkness. They think that they are awake; they are working so hard; they are exhausted every day, but they are really just dreaming; they are asleep. If you put in an eight hour shift in your dreams one night, no one will actually pay you no matter how tired you are. If you work hard for a worldly hope, even if you do not live through war or famine, the world will fail to actually pay you.
We are children of the light. Our hope is founded in reality, and it will not disappoint. Now if only we could work as hard for our real salvation as the world does for it ephemeral rewards.
July 27, 2011 - Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
As devoted as some people are to getting the perfect suntan, we Christians should be to getting the radiant glow that only comes from time spent with the Lord in prayer. Moses is a great example for us. He spent time talking with the Lord, and it changed him. Whenever he spent time speaking with the Lord, his skin became radiant. How wonderful it would be if we too could become radiant by spending time with the Lord. Not that our faces would glow with an earthly light, but that our souls would glow with a heavenly light.
That heavenly light is holiness. As we repeated in the psalm today, “Holy is the Lord our God.” Holiness means to be different, to be separate, to be set aside, to be the personal possession of God. Above all holiness applies to God himself. He is different from everything else. We can say that he is not bad, but when we say that he is good we have to remember that he is better than good, “good” and every other word in human language is inadequate for describing God.
Holiness applies by analogy to those people who belong to God. We are Holy. We belong to God because he made us. We belong to God because we were baptized. We belong to God as we give ourselves daily to him. It is possible to glow with holiness, a light shining in a dark world, but only if we newly dedicate ourselves each day to God.
Holiness is not that pretense of holiness that can be easily seen through. Holiness is not something which we do or that we generate from within. Holiness is the fire of God’s love. We can only acquire this healthy glow by spending time in a different kind of sunshine: the rays coming forth from the tabernacle in the heart of the church.
Moses covered his face with a veil, for the radiance was more than the Israelites could stand. Today we see God with unveiled faces. It would be foolish to leave this meeting, to go away from the source of our life, unless the holiness that we encountered here in the church, here in the Mass, shone forth in our souls. When one Saint lights up the world around them for a while, they are remembered for centuries Imagine if all Christians shone with holiness! The world would soon be converted. And why not? Holiness is available to all of us by God’s grace.
As devoted as some people are to getting the perfect suntan, we Christians should be to getting the radiant glow that only comes from time spent with the Lord in prayer. Moses is a great example for us. He spent time talking with the Lord, and it changed him. Whenever he spent time speaking with the Lord, his skin became radiant. How wonderful it would be if we too could become radiant by spending time with the Lord. Not that our faces would glow with an earthly light, but that our souls would glow with a heavenly light.
That heavenly light is holiness. As we repeated in the psalm today, “Holy is the Lord our God.” Holiness means to be different, to be separate, to be set aside, to be the personal possession of God. Above all holiness applies to God himself. He is different from everything else. We can say that he is not bad, but when we say that he is good we have to remember that he is better than good, “good” and every other word in human language is inadequate for describing God.
Holiness applies by analogy to those people who belong to God. We are Holy. We belong to God because he made us. We belong to God because we were baptized. We belong to God as we give ourselves daily to him. It is possible to glow with holiness, a light shining in a dark world, but only if we newly dedicate ourselves each day to God.
Holiness is not that pretense of holiness that can be easily seen through. Holiness is not something which we do or that we generate from within. Holiness is the fire of God’s love. We can only acquire this healthy glow by spending time in a different kind of sunshine: the rays coming forth from the tabernacle in the heart of the church.
Moses covered his face with a veil, for the radiance was more than the Israelites could stand. Today we see God with unveiled faces. It would be foolish to leave this meeting, to go away from the source of our life, unless the holiness that we encountered here in the church, here in the Mass, shone forth in our souls. When one Saint lights up the world around them for a while, they are remembered for centuries Imagine if all Christians shone with holiness! The world would soon be converted. And why not? Holiness is available to all of us by God’s grace.
April 3, 2011 - Fourth Sunday of Lent
Today's Readings
Today is Laetare Sunday, which means “Rejoice Sunday”. Today is the first day of the fourth week of Lent. So, three weeks done is 21 days, and there are 19 days left until the Easter Triduum. We are halfway through! I hope these days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving have been fruitful. Do not stop or slow down. When a runner reaches the halfway point of a race, they rejoice, but they keep running. So we too should rejoice but keep running this race.
Another reason to rejoice today is because we see the work God is doing in our lives. If we have truly committed ourselves this Lent to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we should be starting to see the fruit of our labors, that the free gift of grace is able to do more. These forty days provide an opportunity for God, and he is always going to take advantage of an opportunity to save us. We are trying to listen to him. We are trying to love ourselves less and our neighbors more. We are trying to be perfect, and he, who wants us to be perfect, is using this effort to effect real change in our souls.
As we see this change, we rejoice. As we see the progress we have made toward God, we also see how much further we could go, if we would go. For every foot we actually progress, we see another mile of possibility, and we rejoice both in the progress and the possibility. A person who is very far from being a Saint thinks that they are rather close. As they take steps forward, perfection always seems further away. This is not because the progress was unreal, but because their vision has improved.
The Saints are always intimately aware of their imperfection. It seems humorous to us when someone like St. Paul or St. Francis laments their sinfulness. We think that it is a show of humility, like the great people of this world who say “Aww, it was nothing” so that you can tell them that it was really something. Not at all! It is a question of vision. If we could see ourselves as the Saints see themselves, it would be unbearable.
It is like someone who cleans a window and only then realizes how dirty the whole room is. It is like someone who walks outside after working all day in a room with fluorescent lights and only then realizes how dark the room was in comparison to the sun. It is like someone who, while doing their taxes, corrects one mistake and only then realizes that they have done the rest of the form wrong. It is like someone who cleans up a small spill on a grey couch and only then realizes that the couch is actually white. It is like someone who turns off the television, seeking silence, and only then realizes that the radio is on.
“Everything exposed by the light becomes visible.” We have dark places in our souls, but, once we let the light of Christ in, those places become visible. This light in our souls “produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” If we want the light of Christ to shine on us, we should “try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” Then, we should not do what is not pleasing to the Lord; we should “not take part in the fruitless works of darkness.”
In the second reading, St. Paul is using an analogy which is accurate from a physics standpoint. He is saying that we can learn something about God if we consider how light works. When we see something, we actually are seeing light, “for everything that is visible is light.” Light is the only thing we can see. Light comes from the sun, hits something, and bounces into our eye. White things are good at reflecting light. Black things do not reflect light. If something were absolutely black, it would not reflect any light at all. We would not be able to see it.
So if something is visible, it is because the light that comes from the sun is reflected back. If something is spiritually visible, the light that comes from God is reflected back. If we look at something perfectly white on a sunny day, we see the sun, since the rays of sunlight which come from the sun are being perfectly reflected into the world. So too, if we look at a soul that is perfectly visible, we see God, since the rays of grace which come from God are being perfectly reflected back into the world. Imagine if every soul here were absolutely pure white. The love would be blinding.
That is a strange phrase, when we say that a light is blinding. We mean that our eyes are too weak for the light. When we are in darkness, the light hurts our eyes. As we move into the light, our eyes adjust. All of us have been born blind because of original sin. The light that comes from God, which is truth, hurts our eyes. We turn away from it. The question becomes whether we will slowly open our eyes to the truth, accept the pain, and let our whole worldview adjust, or keep our eyes shut and covered, afraid of the light.
Surely the man born blind, when Jesus gave him vision, blinked and squinted as he saw light for the first time. Jesus healed him, but he chose to see. He opened his eyes. As the Gospel progresses, we see him opening his eyes spiritually also, until “he said, ‘I do believe, Lord,’ and he worshiped Jesus.” The Pharisees, meanwhile, refused to see. They refused to adjust their vision to the truth of Jesus Christ, so they stood with their eyes closed and covered.
Jesus says, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” It seems strange to us that there would be a judgment against those who see. Jesus clarifies that the problem is when the Pharisees say that they see. They think their vision is perfect. They think that they can see everything. They say, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”, but we are blind. We do not yet have the vision God intends for us. We should not think that everything we see is everything there is. As the light of Christ makes our soul more visible, we will see more and more, until we are pure light.
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