A new and challenging time has begun in our country and our world. Some people are excited about the opportunities that are ahead while others are approaching these same opportunities with a sense of angst. This is a time, perhaps unlike any other, and yet not dissimilar at all.
Our readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time put us into the contrast between light and darkness. This is not an uncommon apocalyptic image from the Scriptures. The struggle between light and darkness is one that is a real and daily occurrence for ancient peoples, and especially for those who live on the precipice of the desert as did the Israelites. While for us it gets dark at night, there is always ample ambient light to offer us a sense of direction and orientation. The sheer starkness of the dark when no ambient light exists is jarring for our modern senses. Those first rays of dawn, peering over the horizon offered showed the promise of a new day ahead.
The ancient prophets foresaw the day when the world would be filled with light – not the artificial light created by technology – but the Light of the World – the Messiah – that would overcome the spiritual darkness that afflicted the world.
The imagery of light and darkness is so strong a metaphor that it has found its way into the secular lexicon as well. We are always living in the tension between peace and war, boom or collapse, freedom or oppression, life or death, hope or despair.
For us the challenge goes even deeper. Do we place our hope in the Light of the world or the Light created by the world? Many people cannot perceive the difference. They allow the artificial light of the world to illumine their minds and hearts not realizing that ultimately the Light created by the world is merely masking and not overcoming the darkness.
In the midst of the perception of the darkness of our times we cannot allow that darkness to become all-encompassing or enveloping of our consciousness. Genocide and religious persecution as epitomized by the conflict in Aleppo, Syria; the increasing cyber and rhetorical war with Russia; the disruption of the presidential inauguration; the twenty-fourth anniversary of Roe v. Wade; economic unease both here and abroad; and any host of other issues hot buttons of darkness for many people. It is easy, indeed all too easy, to wallow in despair or to react either as a Chicken Little or the figurative action of the ostrich.
We are called to bring light in the midst of the darkness. This does not mean that we take a polly-annaish view of the world where we do not recognize the reality in front of us. But it does mean that through our prayer, words, and actions, we work to be agents of the Light of the World illumining that darkness. It means that we need to take the bold steps to secure peace and justice for all peoples. Yes, we always point to Jesus first – as the “great light” that has appeared in our midst. Jesus proclaimed throughout his ministry: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We as his disciples proclaim and live that kingdom as we make present that Light in the world. Ours is not to contribute to or to rage against the darkness, but rather to bring that Light through our interactions with others.
We know that this is not an easy task. It demands of us that change of heart – true repentance – that allows us to recognize the presence of God in our midst and to be enthusiastic for the kingdom of heaven that shatters all semblance of darkness.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.