Darkness and Light

Our eyes are miraculous in their ability to see shapes, color, movement, and perceive distance, but none of that is possible without light.  In total darkness our eyes are useless, and in dim light our vision is impaired.  As with so many other aspects of our existence, this is a metaphor of a larger truth.   Our senses are limited in many respects.  Our eyes see only a portion of the full spectrum of light, our ears hear only within a limited range, and even when we see and hear, we do not fully comprehend.   As we will hear in a couple weeks, when we read about Jesus standing before Pilot, the reason Jesus came into the world is to testify to the Truth.  This “Truth” Jesus refers to is the good news of God’s unconditional love for each of us, and the moral truths God has imbedded and revealed in the natural world.  Our bodies and minds, no matter how learned and clever, cannot perceive the fullness of these truths on our own, for a number of reasons.  Not only are our senses limited, but they are dulled by our sinfulness. 

Paradoxically, when we make the mistake of focusing on our own happiness and convenience, it becomes impossible to achieve real and lasting happiness.  If we think that we can derive happiness from success, power, money, or sex, we will only become more anxious, because no matter how much of these things we have, it is never enough.  Each of these supposed fulfillments has an addictive quality, so that the more we have, the more we want, and the more we worry about losing what we have.  They also lead to selfishness, pride, and lust, sins that dull or erase our perception of God’s truth.   It is only the love of God that can overcome the sinfulness that so easily takes root in our souls.  Listen carefully to the second reading from today’s mass of the RCIA scrutinies:

“Brothers and sisters: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness
and righteousness and truth.”  (Eph 5:8-9)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives sight to the man born blind, while the Pharisees remain blind to the presence of God in their midst.   When confronted, Jesus reveals that, “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” (John 9:4) And to the man He cured, Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” (John 9:39)

Without the light of Christ, we are blind to moral truth.  Think this is an exaggeration?  Consider the fact that our own country has laws that uphold a woman’s right to murder her unborn child.   Many states not only allow gay marriage, they want to teach children that it is “normal and healthy.”  Our government spends 40% more money than it takes in, heaping mountains of debt on our children and grandchildren.* Can any of this be morally right? 

Listen carefully to the next verse from today’s second reading:

“Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness;
rather expose them…”  (Eph 5:10)

In Christ we are the light of the world, and it is up to us to expose “the fruitless works of darkness.”  This is what it means to be a Christian: to stand up for the Truth God has revealed though His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

* U.S. debt is now equivalent to $52,000 per man, woman and child in our country, and we are adding to it at the rate of $8000 a year.