SHINING THE LIGHT OF CHRIST
TUESDAY, TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
2 Cor 1:18-22; Ps 119:129-133,135; Mt
5:13-16
You are Light of the World
With
the celebration of the Pentecost, we end the Eastertide and come back to the
ordinary time of the Church. We come back to the ordinary with the
extraordinary gift we have received from God. We come back to our ordinary
daily activities, not to continue in our ordinary life and strength, but to
pick up the ordinary tasks with extraordinary vision and enthusiasm, for what
we now live is not the ordinary human life but the heavenly life of God. The
renewal and deepening of our understanding of the paschal mysteries and the
rekindling of our spiritual life by the Holy Spirit transform our daily tasks
into a mission for the kingdom of God. If we have the Holy Spirit then we have
God’s life within us. If we are unsure of his presence, then we are uncertain of
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who redeemed us and restored us to
good standing with God as his children.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the new life we have received and our new status as
the children of God who carry the Holy Spirit in their hearts. “You are the
salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again?
It is good for nothing and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by
men.” The new and heavenly doctrine he taught us with his death and
resurrection does not change our daily occupation, but it changes our life and
the spirit with which we carry out these daily activities. We are now agents of
the kingdom of heaven, bringing the will of the Father to fulfilment in our
lives and through our daily engagements. The savour and power of God’s will now
in us through the word of God we have internalised, and the Holy Spirit
resident in us, make us the salt of the earth; we have received power to
transform the world for good and preserve it in that goodness which the will of
God bestows. The psalm expresses this sentiment well: “Your will is wonderful
indeed; therefore I obey it. The unfolding of your word gives light and teaches
the simple.” By calling us light, the Lord expresses our mission to others, to
show them the will of the Father by living the word of God daily and following
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We become light by following the Spirit of
truth. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be
hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp
stand where it shines for everyone in the house.”
The light is not ours but God’s, which Jesus Christ has kindled in us with his teaching, death, and resurrection. Saint Paul confirms that Jesus has revealed the will of God that gives light to our lives. What God promised is now given to all men of every tribe, people, and nation. Our mission is to make it known to all around us. “I swear by God’s truth, there is no Yes and No about what we say to you. The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you—I mean Silvanus and Timothy and I—was never Yes and No: with him, it was always yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him.” For our lives to be a shining light for all, we must be open to God’s will, revealed to us by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit granted to us. The willingness to live out the truth of the Gospel transforms us into light for our families, friends, associations, etc. The readiness makes the Holy Spirit active in our lives as he was in Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. According to Paul, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the glory we will receive in heaven in Christ Jesus, for the Spirit himself is the glory of the Father and the Son. Let us pray for the grace to attune our minds and hearts to the Holy Spirit to be the extension of the yes of Jesus Christ to all God’s promises to men.
Let us pray: O God, from whom all good things come, grant that we, who call on you in our need, may at your prompting, discern what is right, and by your guidance do it. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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