“Come to the Light” by Colleen O’Sullivan
The high priest rose up and all his companions, that is, the party of
the Sadducees, and, filled with jealousy, laid hands upon the Apostles and put
them in the public jail. But during the
night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and
said, "Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people
everything about this life." When
they heard this, they went to the temple early in the morning and taught. (Acts 5:17-21a)
And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people
preferred darkness to light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the
light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be
exposed. But whoever lives the truth
comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. (John
3:19-21)
Piety
We believe
in the Light which overcomes the darkness.
Lord, may we be drawn to your everlasting Light.
Click to
listen to a beautiful choral
rendition of our Creed from Liturgy
of Peace by Archbishop Ionafan, sung by the Kyiv Chamber Choir.
Study
That darkness
often seems to be more pervasive than
light weighed heavily upon me as, during this year’s Triduum retreat, I journeyed
with Jesus from the Passover meal with his friends to the Garden at Gethsemane,
on to the courtyard of the high priest and then to the praetorium where Pilate
reigned supreme, and finally to the place of crucifixion, Golgotha. The kiss of betrayal, the seizure of our
Lord, the sham of a trial, the scourging, the fickleness of the crowd, preferring
to set free a murderer over the Son of God, and finally the slow, heavy
carrying of the Cross to its final resting place and Jesus’ painful death – all
events that speak of the darkest of deeds.
But then in
the midst of all the darkness in our world, the new fire is enkindled at the
Easter Vigil and the Paschal Candle lit.
As each person’s candle is lit, the light grows. The Scripture readings proclaim the many ways
in which God has acted throughout history to save God’s people. At the Easter Vigil Mass, we joyfully celebrate
the Light which overpowers the darkness, the Light of the Resurrection of our
Lord.
It’s easy
to get sucked into believing that there is nothing but darkness all about us,
that the world is full of evildoers. When we turn on the news, we seldom hear
anything good. But I have only to look
around the table at my Cursillo group to see women doing all sorts of good
things for others, none of which will likely ever be broadcast to the world. It doesn’t matter if our good deeds get published
in the media. Whatever you and I do for
others in the name of the Risen Christ, we bring light into the darkness. Our world becomes a little brighter.
God prefers
the light to the darkness. In today’s first reading, God sends an angel under
cover of night to stealthily break open the bars of the prison where the
apostles are being held. God wants the
apostles to use the early morning light to proclaim the Easter message at the
Temple. God believes they can bring
light to the darkness that covers Jerusalem.
We may have
to search for ourselves to see the goodness that is all around us, but if we
take the time, we will find there is light in our midst. There are people everywhere doing good in the
name of the Risen Christ. In the first
chapter of his Gospel, John writes: The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome it. Easter is a time for remembering those words. Easter
is a season of light and joy. It comes
at a time of year when we can look around and marvel at the beauty of spring
and the promise of new life.
Action
What one
thing can you do to bring the Light of Christ to the world today?
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