3 RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Year A January 22, 2017

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1 3 RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Year A January 22, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shone." Light serves many functions, both in life and in the Scriptures. Light reveals what is hidden and exposes what is concealed in the dark. Light provides guidance, allowing us to see the path ahead of us, to see the road by which we travel. Light gives us information and reveals the truth around us. Light brings with it confidence, trust, and freedom from fear. Which is why the author of today's Psalm declared: "The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear?" 02. In the Scriptures, light is often associated with God Himself Who is the source of all light. God's Light conquers the darkness dispelling fear, ignorance and doubt. God's Light brings with it truth, comfort, life, salvation the very Presence of the Almighty Himself. 03. I was reading the other day how the invention of the simple light bulb dramatically changed our lives. It s not something that we think a lot about because light is something that we all take for granted but before the light bulb, our lives were ruled by the darkness and we were at the mercy of nightfall. With the light bulb, everything changed human activity was no longer restricted by the available hours of sunlight. 04. This had a dramatic effect on the natural rhythm of society as factories and businesses could operate well into the night and city life was no longer restricted to daylight hours. The light bulb made it desirable for every home to have electricity and was the impetus behind the establishment of power stations and the widespread distribution of electrical power. 05. With the advent of electrical lighting, people began reading more learning facilities held classes after dark, and there was a steady rise in higher education among the general population. This brought about a huge growth spurt in technological advancements. In fact, the age of the light bulb brought about more technological advancements than any other time period in history. All these show what a dramatic impact the invention of the light bulb had on our existence and the inherent power of light, even artificial light, to transform our lives. 06. In today's Gospel, Jesus is described as the great Light prophesied about by Isaiah in the first reading. The coming of THIS Light, this

2 supernatural Light, this Light which is Christ Himself into our world, into our history, ALSO had a huge impact on human society one that brought about a dramatic transformation of western civilization throughout the centuries bringing an end to things like human sacrifices, slavery, and infanticide and giving birth to things like hospitals, universities, charitable organizations, and social services. 07. This great Light which is Christ FIRST shone on Mary and Joseph, dramatically changing their lives as the care, protection, and raising of the Infant Jesus became the entire focus of their existence. And in today s Gospel, the Light that is Christ shines on the Apostles calling out to them and forever changing their lives. 08. And so, the question for us today is, just as the advent of the light bulb changed society and just as the coming of Christ, the Light of the World, changed the lives of Mary, Joseph, and the Apostles has the brilliant Light that is Christ changed our lives and our world? 09. When the Apostles first see the Light that is Christ and hear his call they respond unequivocally and immediately leaving everything behind to follow Him. There is no question and no hesitation, because they have seen a great Light a Light that brings hope, truth, and the promise of salvation. 10. The Apostles had no idea that this great Light would ultimately lead them to the Cross. All they knew is that this great Light had revealed to them God's Mercy God's Compassion God's intense desire to be with His people to be united to them and to bring them salvation. What they saw in this Light was worth the price of leaving everyone and everything they knew behind. 11. And so, the Apostles rejoiced in the Light that is Christ because they saw that this Light was greater and different from any other light they had ever seen and they wanted to follow this Light wherever it went. But again, they had no idea it would ultimately lead them to the Cross. They had no idea that this great Light would lead them to the darkest moment in their lives, the darkest moment in human history the murder of the Son of God. 12. For those of us who have responded to God's call, we too have recognized Jesus as this great Light Whom Isaiah prophesied about, and Whom we are called to follow. Notice how the call of Christ doesn't come at a convenient time the Apostles were busy doing other things, carrying on

3 with their day to day lives. They weren't just waiting around for a great light to come to them and call out to them. But it happened. And once again, their response was unequivocal and immediate. 13. For us, it can sometimes be the same. The call of Christ often doesn't come at a time that is ideal or convenient for us but when it does come, our response needs to be like the Apostles unequivocal and immediate. And just like the Apostles, this call will ultimately lead us to some of the darkest moments in OUR lives a profound death to self our own personal crucifixion. 14. No one who responded to the call of Christ ever had an easy time the call of Christ always lead them down a road of struggle, pain and suffering a road that would lead them to a personal crucifixion. This was even the case with Our Blessed Mother, the Queen of Heaven, who stood beneath the Cross of Her Son undergoing an interior crucifixion of Her own. This was the case with St. Joseph, with John the Baptist, with the Apostles, and with all those who were bathed in the Light of Christ and responded to His call. It will be no less the case with each of us who are authentically responding to the call of Christ. 15. And so, the call of Christ, this great Light that invites us to follow Him, will ultimately lead us to the Cross the Cross which St. Paul described in the second reading as: foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God the power of God to heal, to transform, and to save. 16. In the dark, things are murky and hidden, we cannot see what is before us we cannot see the truth about ourselves, about the world, about God. It is only with the advent of light that things are truly revealed for what they are. This is exactly what the Light that is Christ does for us. The coming of this great Light among us exposes all that was hidden in the dark revealing to us the truth about God, about the world, about ourselves. 17. The Light that is Christ reveals the truth about the world, showing us the real path to happiness not a path of ease, comfort, and pleasure (as the world tells us) but one of service, sacrifice and self-denial. The Light that is Christ reveals the truth about God that God so loved the world, that He gave His very own Son for its salvation. The Light that is Christ reveals the truth about ourselves that we are not an accident that our existence has profound meaning and purpose that even our pain and suffering has

4 meaning and purpose that God has a plan for our lives that there s much more to life than wealth and pleasure that we are profound sinners who are profoundly loved unworthy instruments He has chosen as a means to shine His Light in the world. 18. But in order for His Light to shine in us, and through us, we must decrease and He must increase. In other words, we need to be so emptied of self that the Light of Christ can fill our souls and shine through us to others. And so, the call is not simply to follow Christ, but to be so full of the Light of Christ, that only He remains so that when people see us, they see that great Light that is Christ Himself. 19. This is the call of every Christian who has been bathed in the Light of Christ to so die to self that nothing of us remains, so that we can be completely filled with the Light that is Christ. By embracing this death to self, the Light of Christ fills our souls and shines forth through us. 20. This is why Our Lady achieved such greatness because She, unlike anyone else in all of creation, so perfectly recognized and embraced Her lowliness, Her nothingness before God, that the Light of Christ, the Light of the Holy Spirit, saturated every fibre of Her Being so much so, that to see Her was to see Christ and to be in Her presence was to be in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. For Mary was so completely and utterly empty of self, that the Holy Spirit could not help but to inhabit Her to a degree unlike any other creature and the Divine Word could not help but to become flesh within Her. 21. Mary, being the archetype of the Church, reminds us, and invites us to embrace our own lowliness our own nothingness before God in the same way so that we too may reflect the Light of Christ as completely and as perfectly as She does. 22. But again, this can only come about by dying to self dying to our own agendas our own ideas our own judgments and opinions our own plans and schedules our own vision of how things should be. For the Light of Christ can only shine through us if we are completely empty of self. 23. Because we are not called to shine our own light in the world but to reflect the Light of Christ to others. Personally, my own light is selfishness, arrogance, pettiness, jealousy these are the things that fill my soul, and these are the things of which I need to be emptied of so that I can be filled

5 with God's Light instead. Because people don't need to see my light they need to see God's Light. 24. For God's Light is love, mercy, compassion, justice, forgiveness, and love love so pure, so infinite, and so powerful that it forever conquered death and hell decisively bringing about our salvation. We are all called to walk in this Light and to follow this Light but this Light will ultimately lead us to the Cross, where our death to self will be the means by which Christ's Light shines perfectly through us. 25. Death to self never feels good, and so the temptation during this process is always to flee and avoid it all costs. And so, just as it was for Jesus during His Crucifixion, the temptation is to save ourselves, and to come down from the Cross to stop dying and to start living. 26. Because, on the surface, the Cross doesn't make any sense, which is why it is foolishness to the world. Because the world only values that which feels good. But never did the Light of Christ shine as brightly as it did on the Cross as it did in this darkest moment in history. Because at that moment, the Light of Christ not only brought salvation to the world it transformed the most horrific darkness into the most brilliant light forever changing our collective and personal lives. Amen.