"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16
Light is for seeing – Light reveals the truth of things because it shows them as they really are -- their true colour, texture and form. Without light, in the darkness, nothing can be seen, nothing has colour, nothing has form. The Christian who follows his Master, who is the way, the truth and the life, also becomes the walking truth, way and life. The Christian who is truly a Christian, lives with meaning, is a point of reference and model to emulate, a finger pointing to the truth because he embodies and lives it.
Light is for being seen – A blind man was invited to a friend’s house for dinner; after dinner, as it was already dark, the friend gave him a lamp to help him on his way home, the blind man said mockingly, “Can't you see that I am blind, what good is a lamp to me?” “Take it,” his friend insisted. And so he did. When he was still a long way from his house, someone bumped into him and he, now understanding the reason for the lamp, shouted, “Did you not see my lamp?” “No, I didn't see you, that's why I bumped into you, but now I see that in fact you are carrying a lamp, but it has gone out.”
When visibility is poor, because of rain or because it is the beginning or end of the day, many drivers do not turn on their headlights, because they say they can still see; thus, forgetting that the lights are also for being seen by others.
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father (Matthew 5: 15-16).
When, claiming to be Christians, we do not embody the word of God, we are a dimmed light that not only does not show the way, but is also a "stumbling block", which is the meaning of the word scandal in Greek.
Light exposes evil – (...) the Light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). In this sense, light has the same denouncing and anti-corruption capacity as salt. It is in the dark, in the dead of night, in secret that the worst deeds of evil of this world are done. Exposing these injustices is the Christian’s task, even if it is difficult and risky; if no one does it, darkness infests the entire society and transforms it into a mob; "where the sun doesn’t enter, enters the doctor", says the people.
Light must shine – In Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman, she asks Jesus where she should worship God, in the temple of Jerusalem or on the mountain of Samaria. Jesus answers that God is worshipped everywhere, and because he is Spirit, he must be worshipped in spirit and truth. Without leaving the Synagogue and the Temple, most of his ministry took place in the street, in life. The same happened in the first five centuries of the Church; the Word was preached in public squares or transmitted from person to person by his or her witness; the Eucharist was celebrated in people's homes. Worship was in life and life was in worship.
With the building of temples, after Emperor Constantine, worship and life were separated. Today we have life without worship, those who call themselves non-practicing Catholics, and worship without life, those who practice religion but only in Church, when outside they are equal to or worse than the others. Today the only light that shines is the lamp in the Blessed Sacrament, only in Church of course.
Let your light shine before men... We are called to be the light of the world, not the light of the temple; not a light that is put under a bushel, but a light that is at the top of the hill where we can see more of the world. Like someone once said: "Faith either spreads or fades"; faith is either given or is lost; we only have faith when we give it away.
Christ is the Sun, we are the Moon – All light comes from the Sun. Christ is the sun of our lives, the one who guides us, enlightens us and warms us. We as disciples, or planets, revolve around him, capturing his light which we then, like the moon, reflect to illuminate the world that walks in darkness. Christians are in fact like the moon in its different phases:
First Quarter – Those who gradually abandon prayer and the practices of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and see their light losing intensity and risk going out completely.
New – Those who have already set aside prayer, reading and listening to the Word of God, and practicing the sacraments, they are no longer enlightened by Christ or no longer shine themselves; they are a black hole, or the so-called non-practicing Catholics. Without the guidance of God’s Word, Catholics are easily led astray by the philosophies of this world.
Last Quarter – Those who strive to embody the Word of God and are in communion with other Christians, being part of the mystical body of Christ; they grow as people of faith and in human maturity.
Full – Those who despite still having dark areas in their lives (in reference to the large craters on the moon) fundamentally live for Christ, and as St. Paul said of himself, "it is no longer I who live but is Christ who lives in me". Their lives are a beacon for others; they are a living Christ.
"Love is like the moon, when it doesn't increase it decreases". Faith is exactly the same, it either increases or decreases, it never stays static because in this world nothing is static. It has always been said that “what is not used, atrophies”. Faith grows when it is applied in life, when it is the driving force behind our lives; it decreases to the point of atrophy when it is not used in everyday life, when it doesn't inspire and motivate actions, and generate attitudes.
When we live out our faith in this way, we truly bear witness to Christ, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and in this way, we carry out a silent evangelization, because it brings to faith many of those who see us and live with us.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC
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