Light in all its many forms is a gift from God. Isaiah offers the people of Israel an image of light pouring over them, blanketing them in God’s splendor: the glory of the Lord shines upon you! The exile of the people had been a time of darkness; now, upon their return to their homeland, they themselves will serve as a beacon of God’s glory for all the world, a revelation of God’s goodness: Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. And the emotional consequences of God’s gift are powerful: your heart shall throb and overflow, Isaiah tells them, so that the blessings of the Lord will be made manifest to all. Indeed, as Psalm 72 notes, monarchs from the world over will come to pay tribute to the God of Israel: the kings of Tarshish and the Isles, the kings of Arabia and Seba come to bear witness to the justice and profound peace of Israel’s compassionate God.
A like glory is seen by the magi in Matthew’s Gospel when, following the light of the star, they arrive at the place where the child is. Light in this story is not only a physical entity – the light of a celestial body– but also the realization of the child’s significance: they prostrate themselves and do him homage because they realize they have found the ruler who is to shepherd God’s people Israel. In other words, they see the light! And light in the form of revelation is also the subject of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: the mystery was made known to me by revelation, he tells them, and it is his responsibility to make this revelation known to the world, namely, that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise of Christ Jesus. It is no longer just the people of Israel who are blessed with God’s light, but all the world.
Where, since Christmas, have we seen the glory of the Lord revealed? Where have our own epiphanies, our sightings of God’s action in our lives, occurred? How can we be that light, the glory of God, revealed to the nations? How do we participate in the revelation that is God’s love for all people? How can we be stewards of God’s grace, and for whom? For we too are called to live salvation so manifestly that it becomes the universal language spoken by our very existence, and thereby bring God’s love, and God’s light, to bear upon the world. May we be a light to the nations, that God’s may indeed reach to the ends of the earth!
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