Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Readings:
Acts 12:24 -- 13:5a
Ps 67:2-6, 8
John 12:44-50

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041508.shtml

Sharing the light

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus describes himself as the light of the world and explains why he came: "to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining in the dark." In the first reading, we see Barnabas and Saul (the Jewish name for St. Paul) being called by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the community (the Church) to take the light of Christ into a dark world.

Today, the Holy Spirit still calls and the Church still commissions: WE are being sent into the darkness to share the light of Christ. It's not just the ordained clergy who are commissioned; in the Vatican II document, the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity," the bishops wrote:

"The laity accomplish the Church's mission in the world principally by that blending of conduct and faith which makes them the light of the world..." (para. 13). We spread the light of Jesus by conducting ourselves the way Jesus would — with love, forgiveness, patience, going the extra mile, etc. — and by speaking up to explain who it is we're imitating and why.

Jesus says elsewhere (see Matt. 5:14-16) that a light hidden under a basket is worthless. Faith becomes an occasion of sin if it's only a private experience. Faith is what forms us into the image of Christ who came to earth to bring others to the kingdom of God. If we have true faith, we are motivated to be like Jesus in our dealings with others so that they, too, experience God's love.

"The laity should, by the light of faith, try to find the higher motives that should govern their behavior in the home and in professional, cultural and social life; they should too, given the opportunity, let these motives be seen by others, conscious that by so doing they become cooperators with God the creator, redeemer and sanctifier, and give him glory" (para. 16). We can change the world, starting in our homes but also in the workplace and in social settings, when the reason for our kind, good, and loving behavior is clearly and visibly tied to our faith in Jesus.

When problems arise, we are witnesses of the light of Christ if we, as this document points out, "learn ... to see all things in the light of faith, to judge and act always in its light, to improve and perfect oneself by working with others [loving them generously no matter how difficult], and in this manner to enter actively into the service of the Church. Inasmuch as the human person is continuously developing and new problems are forever arising, this education should be steadily perfected" (para. 29).

We are beacons of the light of Christ when we learn from our problems and grow from our trials.

How bright is your light? Whose darkness is it illuminating?