“Into His Wonderful
Light” by the late Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
(Originally published
May 22, 2011)
They presented these
men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. The word of God
continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased
greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith. Acts 6:6-7
Therefore, its value
is for you who have faith, but for those without faith: “The stone which the
builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone that will make
people stumble, and a rock that will make them fall.” They stumble by
disobeying the word, as is their destiny. But you are “a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the
praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:7-9
Jesus said to him, “I
am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me. John 14:6
Piety
Our piety brings us to
Jesus as the living stone of our spiritual life. The life and death and
resurrection of Jesus are the cornerstones of Spirituality. God alone makes us into the “chosen race, the
royal priesthood, and the holy nation, a people of his own” so that we can
announce the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful
light. If Christ is the cornerstone of our spiritual life, then we must follow
in his footsteps. He shows us the way that brings us to his Father. Our
spiritual life, based on Christ, will bring us to the dwelling place he has
prepared for us in heaven.
Study
Our study brings us to
the Father’s house. We realize that we could never know the way without Christ.
No one comes to the Father except through Christ. If we know Christ, we know
the Father. Christ has loved us even as the Father has loved him. Christ invites
us to live our lives with each other loving one another as Christ has loved us.
He tells us that if we love him, we will keep the commandments. Even people who
have never heard of Christ have the victory of Christ written on their hearts
in the truth that wherever there is love, God is there. The Commandments, as the
secret of happiness, are the perfect statements of interpersonal relationships.
There can be no genuine
happiness without the perfection of the commandments coloring how we relate to
one another. Love is the goodness of our way of being with each other. Selfless
love is doing all we do for the good of each other without expecting a return.
We study Christ because Christ is the perfect human expression of what the
Father is asking of us. When we see Christ in our study, we see the Father.
Christ is in the Father, and the Father is in Christ. The real works of Christ
reveal the Father.
Action
Our love for Christ and
our belief in him carry the promise that we will be able to do the works of
Christ. Because Christ is now with the Father, we can do more significant works
than the works of Christ. Because Christ lives in us, and we live in him, our actions
are the works of Christ. Because we are priestly people, our efforts carry the
weight of the work of Christ. When people see the goodness of our lives as the
Mystical Body of Christ, they see Christ, not us. We work so that when people see us, they will
see and understand Christ at work in us. The actions that grow out of our
spiritual journey build us into the spiritual house of a holy priesthood able
to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Stephen
is the most notable to the deacons because he is the first martyr. The Apostles
laid hands on the first deacons so that they would be free to do the prayer and
study that would make their ministry of the word more fruitful. In this Age of the Laity, the world views spiritual
women and men as “priestly people” due to the significance of the work they
do.
Christ calls us out of
darkness to dwell with him and the Father in the wonderful light of the love of
God.
Jesus calls us to do His
works (and even greater works) because we can reach the world that we are a part
of by our actions. The computer age
gives us greater outreach than Christ ever had in his human age, where word of
mouth was how he communicated. Now we
can make use of his spirit and touch the hearts of people we will never see and
who will never see us. Even as Christ
made the Father present by his good works, we are to make Christ present by our
actions. He calls us to be real Christs
for one another. Faith challenges us to
make Christ real in all that we are by being all of ourselves in his name.
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