29/01/2025
Good morning..
Jesus is the light of the world. All His followers share in His light. So, He tells all His followers: “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14).
In the Gospel today, Jesus uses the image of a lamp. The lamp has to be lighted, otherwise it is of no use and value. Once lighted, it has to be placed on a lampstand so that it can illumine the whole house. It should not be covered or placed under the bed.
As Christians, we are light of the world. We are like the lamp which is lighted. Our light is our good works. A Christian who has no good works is like an unlit lamp, good for nothing. The Apostle James is very emphatic on this: “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead”.
But it is not enough for the lamp to be lighted. It has to be put on a prominent place so that its light will be seen by everybody. For a Christian, it is not enough that he does good works. He has to share this with as many people as possible. We do good works not only for our own sake or just for the sake of doing good, but most especially for the sake of others. Being a light simply means sharing in the missionary work of Jesus.
Finally, Jesus gives this warning: “To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” He is referring to the gift of Christian faith. For those whose faith is vibrant because it is accompanied by good works, it will all the more be strengthened. But for those whose faith is dead, even that faith will be taken away.
Let us thank God for the gift our faith. Let us make sure it is accompanied by good works so that we become the light of the world, for people to see the way that leads to Christ. Charles Spurgeon, a famous English preacher, said, “The Bible is not the light of the world; it is the light of the Church. But the world does not read the Bible; the world reads Christians! ‘You are the light of the world’.”
In other words, the challenge is for us to be seen and known by the world as Christians. It is not enough to be a good person. A truly good Christian radiates his faith, and shares it with others. He must not only be a follower of Christ. He must also be an apostle, an evangelizer.
In a world enveloped by the darkness of sin and egoism, the call to be the light is all the more urgent. As long as we bear the light of Christ, the power of darkness cannot overpower us. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candles".
