12-26-18 - Witness to the Light

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Many people are busy bearing witness to darkness, often in destructive ways, seeming to delight in pointing out just how awful this situation or that person is. And there are many who bear witness to the darkness of pain and injustice and oppression, which is an important step in remedying such conditions. That is part of our calling as followers of Christ.

But with it comes an even more important calling: to bear witness to the light. That was the vocation of John the Baptist, a holy man who was not the Holy One, whose mission it was to bear witness to the coming light:

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

The world badly needs more of us to testify to the light – the light that came into the world in the embodied Christ, and is ever coming in through his Body now, the Church.

Today, as we digest our Christmas puddings and clean up the wrapping paper, let’s take some time to reflect on where the light of Christ is most visible. And then find someone and bear witness to that hope. Where do you find yourself called to testify to the light, to proclaim in the face of poverty or evil, illness or lies the triumph of God’s light – even if things still look pretty dark? If we want to be effective at offering that counter-testimony to so much of what passes for truth, we have to be aware of where we experience the light of Christ, what darkness we have known to be enlightened by the presence and love of God.

What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The life of God is here already, full, vibrant, but we need faith vision to see it. In Christ's Spirit, we have been given that vision, to discern the life that is coming, to see the life that is. As we become able to focus on this future that is already here, we can anticipate with hope, expecting blessing. We are able to believe that healing can come in the starkest of situations, conversion in the darkest of hearts.

And we come to see that what looked like complete darkness is in fact a beautiful night, lit by the Light of the World.

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