"I have come as light into the world so that everyone who believes in Me should not remain in darkness".
Gospel of John
What kind of darkness is Jesus warning us to avoid?
This particular Gospel reading from John comes right after one captioned; "the unbelief of the people". The prophet Isaiah is referenced in this previous gospel reading. In that reference, Isaiah is quoted: "They have blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their hearts and be healed".
What kind of darkness is Jesus warning us to avoid? I believe it is the kind of darkness that is very evident in our society today. When you examine the phenomena going on around us, there is a sense that our society in general has lost its spiritual and moral compass. Situations arise, whether it be sexual or psychological abuse with its subsequent fallout, or all those acts of terrorism which show that many are not being guided by Christian or spiritual principals. And then, there is all the debating, wild opinions and rushing around by those in authority to try to figure out what happened and why. Why did these young people from what appears to be stable families act out in this way? What happened to the compassion and empathy that should have triggered a different response? What can we do, what law can we pass, to prevent this from happening again?
I have no objection with passing better laws to suit our changing circumstances, but are we really seeing the root cause of the difficulties? Is it tied in with the blindness that Jesus speaks about in the Gospel of John?
The root cause for much of the confusion that we are experiencing is that we have chosen to cut ourselves off from the source of light, a source that enables us to see through eyes of faith and understand with hearts open to God. Can we expect anything else but confusion and darkness?
Jesus cries out: "If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, it is not I who shall condemn them. Anyone who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already." Have we as a society become to self-assured of our own methods and ways that we fail to consult and seek the wisdom and light that comes through faith in Christ and His word?
It's easy to look out and see the failings of society and the darkness that result from the irresponsibility of others. It's not so easy to look at ourselves and ask some very serious questions about how we may be failing in our attempts to do something about it. Christ's words, after all, include the commission to go out and make disciples of all nations, to being the light of faith to those who live in darkness. As church, can we improve our evangelization efforts?
We read in the Acts of the Apostles of a praying community being guided by the Holy Spirit sending Paul and Barnabas out to foreign areas of Seleucia and Cyprus to bring the light of Christ, the word of Christ, to people who have not heart it. As Church, have we become so comfortable or so busy that we have failed to see the importance of reaching out beyond our community to those who have no and little connection with us? This is not something we are use too. This is difficult for most of us. Our experience is that people come to us, not us to them.
In our changing society, the New Evangelization is trying to address some of these issues, because the truth be known, people are no longer coming to us, at least as much as in the past.
As church, we must courageously be open to the Holy Spirit and its direction, and be ready to make the changes that are necessary to bring Christ's light to others, in ways that will probably be different than in the past.
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