Thursday, January 19, 2017

Sunday Gospel Reflection, January 22, 2017: The Lord is my light and my salvation...

Is Jesus the light in your darkness? 

   In Biblical times, darkness often represented danger or evil.  Speaking of a time when Israel will be delivered from the Assyrians who have degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the prophet Isaiah tells of God’s promise of a savior:  Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness… The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  It is no surprise, then, that when, in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus goes to live in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, he is fulfilling the promise of Isaiah, embodying the very light of which Isaiah had spoken.  Jesus is our light in the darkness, and when his future disciples see him, they immediately abandon all they are familiar with – their boats, their livelihood – to follow this light.  He represents their opportunity to do as Psalm 27 suggests, to gaze on the loveliness of the Lord, and to dwell in his house forever.  How beautiful would it be if we could always put ourselves in that place, recognizing God with us always, responding always from a place of love, God’s love, rather than from a place of the fear that all too often governs our lives.

   It is because of the light of Christ, and in that light, that Paul can enjoin the Corinthians to seek unity, urging them to agree in what they say, with no divisions among them.  The Corinthians have seen the light, by the grace of baptism, and need to focus on the good news, the truth of the passion, death, and rising of Jesus, the beacon of light who brings abundant joy and great rejoicing, and who dwells within them still.  They, too, must recognize that the Lord is their light and their salvation, and act accordingly, living in the same mind and in the same purpose, ever attentive to the Lord revealed in their midst, responding with love rather than fear, that Jesus might continue to be the light in their darkness, as he is in our own.

The Lord is my light and my salvation…

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle

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