The theme for this week focuses on Jesus calling us to be “the light of the world.” We can only be light if we receive light, which is why we open our hearts daily to the word of God: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path” (Ps 119:105). As God’s word takes root and grows in our hearts, it becomes a great light which shines out from us to bring light to those around us.
We can gain some insight into how this works by thinking about the moon. Most people today do not pay much attention to the moon, since we have so much electric lighting around us, but in times past it made a great difference to people what phase the moon was in. A moonless night is very dark indeed, making travel most difficult. On the other hand, when the moon is full it lights up the night and people can see clearly where they are going. The moon, we know, does not shine on its own, but only reflects the light of the sun. In the same way, we have no light of our own, but we are called to shine brightly with the light of Christ, thereby lighting up the darkness of the world and helping those around us to find their way.
The darkness of the world in its sin condition can also be described in other ways, as Isaiah does in the first reading. He mentions the hungry, the oppressed, the homeless, and the naked. Here Isaiah is urging his hearers to help those without food and shelter in the most literal sense. But we can also see in his prophecy a call to help those who hunger for truth and love, who are oppressed by the weight of sin, who feel unwelcome and unloved, and who have been stripped of their human dignity. As Isaiah tells us, all these people are our own, and we must not turn our backs on them. We are called to share what we have with them.
This can seem overwhelming to us. In the face of so many needs in the world, what do we have to share? In ourselves, very little. But, as we will see on Saturday, if we give the little that we have to Jesus and allow him to do what he will with it, he will multiply our small gift into an abundance. The key is not to depend upon ourselves but to cry out to the Lord for help, and he will quickly answer, “Here I am!”
Today’s Psalm also points out that as we receive light from God, we ourselves become a light for others. “The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.” When we follow the word of God, we find that this word is a light shining for us in the darkness. The Psalm teaches us the importance of maintaining a strong commitment to keeping the word in our hearts: “His heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.” And we see that the just one gives to the poor “lavishly.”
When we keep God’s word in our hearts, we are able to give lavishly, generously, to those around us because we have in his word an inexhaustible source. We give not merely what we have in ourselves, but what we have received from Christ. We can recall what Peter said to the lame man who asked him for alms: “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk” (Acts 3:6).
For our hearts to be truly open to God’s word, however, we must remain in deepest humility, always remembering our own weakness and littleness, and acknowledging that all we do is by the power of God at work in us. St. Paul expresses this very well in the second reading. He does not proclaim himself or take any credit for the success of his ministry. He knows that he is only a channel through which God’s grace flows. As he says in another passage, “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us” (2 Cor 4:7).
In the Gospel Acclamation, Jesus says of himself, “I am the light of the world.” And in the Gospel, he tells his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” What do we learn from this? First of all, as we have been saying, the light is his; he is the light. But he calls us also to be light, which means that he is transforming us into an image of himself. We are to continue his mission in the world, bringing light and healing to those around us, for the glory of the Father. We are called to be the light of Christ in the world! Let us open our hearts to his transforming word, that his light may grow ever brighter in us.
In what ways do I reflect the light of Christ to my family, workplace, parish, or community? Do I recognize that I am only a reflection of Christ’s light, like the moon to the sun – or do I sometimes act as if the light were my own? How am I called to bring light to those who are hungry, oppressed, homeless, or stripped of dignity in both physical and spiritual ways?
Excerpt from The Anawim Way, Volume 22, no. 2. More information about The Anawim Way may be found here.