Light of the world, Part II

By Lou Occhi

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123122.cfm
I John 2:18-21
John I:1-18

John 1:1-18 starts with the lyrical introduction:

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through Him,
and without Him nothing came to be.
What came to be through Him was life
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

The phrase ‘In the beginning’ is an allusion to the first words in Genesis. John goes on to say that Jesus, the Word, was with God for all eternity and was with God at the creation of all things. He goes on to say what came to be through Him was life and this life is the light of the human race.

You may or may not recall that my reflection a few weeks ago was on the subject of being the light of the world. I had no idea that today’s gospel is the one I would be talking about next. John says "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Christ brought the light into the world and we are charged with keeping the light lit. So, I decided I might as well continue on the subject of light.

When Jesus came to us, He was the light of the world. Shortly after His death and resurrection, He returned to His Father in Heaven. We are now the light bearers for Him and are called to continue to overcome the darkness in our world. Jesus is an eternal source of light. We, on the other hand, are just like every other source of light. All sources of light in our realm needs a source of energy. In addition, that source needs to be occasionally renewed or the light will quit glowing. Today we have rechargeable batteries. When the flashlight grows dim, we recharge the battery and keep going. I guess I am saying we are a spiritual flashlight with a rechargeable battery. In a rather crude way, we are the bulb and God’s grace is our rechargeable source of energy.

We need to be aware of all the ways available to recharge our soul. Of course, our Wednesday sessions are a definite help in this regard. However, there are many other ways to keep that battery charged. Rather than talk about the multitude of ways, I will cover the five fundamental methods available to all.

First is reading scripture. When we read scripture, we are learning about our creator and His love for us. If we do not know our creator how can we ever build a relationship with Him. He is with us and knows us better than any person on this planet. He has a plan for our lives and, through scripture, we strive to know what He wants of us. In addition, scripture gives us hope. When darkness surrounds us, we are comforted by knowing He wants to help us and that we can count on Him.

Following scripture comes praying. We should have a daily prayer life. This can take many forms. We can meditate on scripture that we have been reading. This is done by placing ourselves into the scene we have just read. Visualize the people that are present, how they are dressed, how they smell, where they are, what do the surroundings look like, etc. Try to understand what they are feeling and how they are reacting to what is going on. The more detail the better. Don’t worry about going outside the box of what you are reading. The idea is to immerse yourself in the story. The Chosen tv series does a phenomenal job of creating a visual meditation on the biblical stories we know so well. Other forms of prayer are the rosary, Liturgy of the Hours or whatever method of praying that best suits you. The only thing that is important is that you always pray from the heart.

Next comes fasting. Technically, fasting is usually limiting yourself to bread and water for a day. This is pretty tough. For one thing, our bread makers have managed to make their products look good but provide no sustenance. When Bob Schlut was a monk, they made real bread and could sustain themselves for a day. Fasting also means depriving yourself of something you want. Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence. On that day we are supposed to fast by limiting ourselves with one regular meal and two smaller meals. We are also asked to abstain from eating meat. Anything you give up for a day is a form of fasting and strengthens our resolve to follow Jesus wherever He may lead us.

Then come confession. When I was young we went to confession every week. Over time that went away. Today the minimum confession is once a year. Unfortunately, many people don’t even do that. The recommendation is to go once a month. That is not a lot to ask of us. At our age, we would have to work pretty hard to commit a serious sin. However, we need to realize that we sin in minor ways all the time. An occasional bad thought that we entertain, acts of selfishness, gossip, temper tantrums, etc. Going to confessions gives us a clean slate to start anew. In addition, the priest can council us on how to improve on our weaknesses.

Finally, there is mass and the reception of the Eucharist. Here, the recommendation is to go every day or try to go as often as possible during the week. This can be difficult since there are limited times we can go and there are always the scheduling difficulties. We have remember that of all the things we can do to strengthen our spiritual lives, receiving the body and blood of Christ is the best. If you can manage one extra day of mass when you can, then that is great.

Like our weekly prayer sessions, there are also many other activities which keep our spiritual batteries charged. Doing corporal works of mercy, participating in the celebration of mass by doing readings, being a Eucharistic minister, leading singing, participating in church functions, etc. all work to keeping that light going.

In the end, the most important thing is to strive to keep Christ at the center of our lives and do all we can to keep that spiritual battery charged. If we do that then we can continue to be the light of the world.