DAILY HOMILIES #light

You are light; you lead, not copy. You do not follow the trends; you create trends. Light bulbs do not need speakers; they speak by doing their jobs. They don’t pretend. If you turn a light bulb on, it will continue to shine even if no one is in the room. Avoid living a fake Christian life – actions speak louder than words. Shine even if no one is clapping.

St. Peter emphasises our call to holiness by describing us as priests. As priests, we are a chosen race. That is, we are set apart and different from the rest of the world. We have been “called out of darkness into God’s marvellous light.” Bartimaeus could have asked for money, cars, houses, and so on, but he only asked for his sight. Let us pray that God may open our eyes to see who we are and what truly matters.

Today’s first reading highlights God’s active control over history. It shows that God can use even a non-believer like King Cyrus to accomplish His divine plans. If we Christians fail to let our light shine, God will raise “stones” – non-believers – to accomplish God’s plans. (cf. Luke 19:40). Isn’t it a shame that traditional worshippers are now making a mockery of how Christians dress to church? As God stirred the heart of Cyrus to let the Israelites return to rebuild their nation, God is calling you today to champion the movement for the restoration of the Christian identity in a world where Christians (and even the “men of God”) have quenched their lights. You are not too small to lead the change. A forest only needs a spark to burn. Be that spark today.

We will be playing the ostrich if we deny that there are no demon-possessed individuals in our churches. Do not be deceived; it is not everything that glitters that is gold. It is not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” that will enter God’s kingdom. (Matthew 7:21) It is not everybody you see in church who is there to worship God. Some go to steal, kill and destroy. (Cf. John 10:10). Don’t get caught off-guard.

When Jesus took three of his closest disciples up to the Mountain and was transfigured before them, he did so to strengthen their faith, to show them that beyond the self-denials, beyond the tears, beyond the blood to be shared, beyond the beatings, persecutions, and agonies of the cross, there was something beautiful, something resplendent, something so precious that was awaiting them at the end of the day.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus presents the challenges involved in evangelisation. Preaching light to a world that prefers darkness (a world that rejected Jesus) can be likened to sheep moving amid wolves. There has never been a time when the world loved Christians. Jesus noted: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, I chose you out of the world. Therefore, the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)

Today, many have lost their “taste” as salt and their “brightness” as a light. We claim to be Christians, but we make life difficult for others. We are a source of scandal to those who look up to us as role models. We have given bad examples and corrupted the minds of the young. Never assume that it is okay to do evil since no one is looking. Jesus describes us as cities built on a hill, meaning there can be no hiding place for us, even in the most secret places. What we do in the cover of darkness comes out openly to bring us to our knees. “For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.” (Mark 4:22).

This is the night when God led our forebears, Israel’s children, from slavery in Egypt and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea. This is the night that God banished the darkness of sin with a pillar of fire. This is the night that, even now, throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and the gloom of sin, leading them to grace and joining them with his holy ones. This is the night Christ broke the prison bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld…

When all hope was lost for Susanna, God sent Daniel and endowed him with such wisdom and eloquence that no one could withstand him. The same judges who confessed to seeing this woman with a man gave conflicting answers when asked the name of the tree under which they saw the woman, proving they were telling lies.

“Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Remember, you are the earth’s light and the world’s salt.

Beyond refraining from pointing accusing fingers at others, the season of Lent offers us ample opportunity to pray for the conversion of sinners. Let us become like Jesus to the Levi’s in our world today. Don’t stop condemning evil, but go beyond pointing fingers; show love to sinners, reach out to them, and lead them out of darkness to God’s marvellous light. This is the fasting that God desires.

The great catch of fish was a turning point in Peter’s life. He immediately recognised God's presence and confessed his sins. Isaiah had a similar experience in today’s First Reading. Meanwhile, in today’s second reading, St. Paul confesses how he previously persecuted the Church, yet God made him an apostle. Is it the case that God prefers working with individuals with a sinful past? What do we learn from these readings?