Monday after Epiphany Sunday
1 John 3:22-4:6 | Psalm 2:7-8,10-11 | Matthew 4:12-17,23-25
The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light;
on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned. (Matthew 4:16)
I’m sure many of us have flipped a light switch sometime in our lives…and be left in the dark. We’d then grumble to ourselves, switch on our smartphone’s flash, then hunt for a replacement bulb or tube, cursing the darkness while stubbing our toes against unseen obstacles outside the phone’s meager beam. In pre-smartphone eras, we’d often knock stuff over in our desperate search for the emergency flashlight that’s somehow never where we remember leaving it the last time.
We’ll swear a blue streak, and nurse whatever bruises we collect from blind collisions, but We Will Fix That Light, come hell or high water.
Because we can’t imagine passing the rest of the night without it, dreading the dark unknowns that lurk even in the familiar surrounds of our own home.
Modern smartphone flashes are remarkable in their brilliant output, but their narrow beams just don’t hold a candle to a simple omnidirectional ceiling fixture, that banishes shadows from all corners of the room.
We humans need a great light.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
That explains why large crowds converged on Jesus from all over the Middle East, following in the footsteps of a teacher who was willing and able to shed light on the Kingdom of God, and offer a foretaste through numerous healings.
For when a great light appears out of the darkness of nature or spirit, our natural instinct is to run to it. Only those who live for the stygian blindness of sin would shy away.
So why are we so reluctant to spend time with the great light of the Divine each day?
Perhaps it’s because it also brings to light that which we would prefer to remain hidden: our uglier side, stained by selfishness and twisted by over-indulgence.
Of course, ignoring it doesn’t make it go away, neither our sin-riddled visages nor the Light of self-sacrificing freedom. Far better to embrace clarity, to walk to and in the light, to see our festering wounds that need to be soothed with holiness, and to apply the healing salve of the Way, Truth and Life.
But it all starts with accepting the Light that is Christ, not just with empty words, but with heart and soul.
Maranatha. Our Lord has come. Let us be on our way to meet Him. Amen.