Father Koch: The darkness never fully overcomes the light
December 15, 2023 at 9:00 a.m.
Gospel reflection for Dec. 17, 2023, Third Sunday of Advent
Each of us has over the past several weeks noted how much shorter the days are growing. The late fall sky becomes gray and with the foliage all but gone, this time of the year can become very bleak. The darkness is all around us and it can become overwhelming. Were it not for the luminescence of the various holiday lights the world would be a very dark place right now.
When we think of darkness, we can also think of someone’s mood or the prevailing events around us. We are often negatively impacted by the feelings and dispositions of others. We even say of some people that they have a dark cloud over their head.
This sense of darkness also dominates our discussion of world events. We speak of the dark clouds of war, and live in the midst of a sense of concern about the political events in our nation and our world.
It is in a sense fascinating how much we use the language of light and dark to express our feelings and responses to a multitude of emotions and situations.
This is not just characteristic of the English language but is a part of our human condition. The world of Jesus, much like our world, was in a spiritual darkness. Those attuned to the darkness sought out after the light, hoping that God was ready to rescue them from the despair and darkness of oppression. Many of us today seek to be alleviated from this spiritual darkness and to find consolation in the light. Unlike the Jews of old, we know the light, we just have to come to accept the light and lead others toward it.
John the Baptizer preached a message of hope and forgiveness in the midst of the darkness showing the hope and promise of the light-to-come. It seems clear that he was met with great enthusiasm as he offered a new way of looking at old things and showed a promise of things to come. Like many, perhaps indeed all prophets, John was far more popular with the common folk -- the hoi polloi -- than he was with the rabbinic scholars and political elites.
The people wanted the message of forgiveness, hope and light that he delivered and they wanted more. Their leaders preferred to keep them dependent upon the legal system and the prescripts of old.
John knew what they did not -- he was only the servant of change and not its agent. The true light, the true hope, was still to come. John at least sensed, if he did not know for sure, that the time of fulfillment was present in his midst. He knew it was immanent, but just how immanent, we are uncertain.
We see in the Church today this same tension experienced at the time of John and Jesus. There is a struggle between the old order and the new order. Each believes the other is off kilter and is stifling the work of the Holy Spirit. Instead of being the light to the world, the church has become a flicker instead of a beacon.
Every age struggles to discern who the prophets are. Many of the prophets of old were killed. Many of the prophets -- apostles, missionaries, visionaries, evangelizers -- of the new dispensation have been martyred or dismissed. Some are false prophets, some prophesize for the notoriety that comes with being a prophet, and some have an incomplete message.
The truest test of a prophets is the standard set by John. He knew he wasn’t the messiah and he never made or accepted any claims to be so. Many false prophets think they are the messiah; many false prophets claim more than they know; many false prophets believe they are in sole possession of the truth.
What are we supposed to do? Discernment is not easy, but we heed the voice of the Church and keep our eyes focused on the light. We cannot allow the distractions of in-fighting and parochialism to deter us from proclaiming the merciful love of God manifest in the Incarnate Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
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Gospel reflection for Dec. 17, 2023, Third Sunday of Advent
Each of us has over the past several weeks noted how much shorter the days are growing. The late fall sky becomes gray and with the foliage all but gone, this time of the year can become very bleak. The darkness is all around us and it can become overwhelming. Were it not for the luminescence of the various holiday lights the world would be a very dark place right now.
When we think of darkness, we can also think of someone’s mood or the prevailing events around us. We are often negatively impacted by the feelings and dispositions of others. We even say of some people that they have a dark cloud over their head.
This sense of darkness also dominates our discussion of world events. We speak of the dark clouds of war, and live in the midst of a sense of concern about the political events in our nation and our world.
It is in a sense fascinating how much we use the language of light and dark to express our feelings and responses to a multitude of emotions and situations.
This is not just characteristic of the English language but is a part of our human condition. The world of Jesus, much like our world, was in a spiritual darkness. Those attuned to the darkness sought out after the light, hoping that God was ready to rescue them from the despair and darkness of oppression. Many of us today seek to be alleviated from this spiritual darkness and to find consolation in the light. Unlike the Jews of old, we know the light, we just have to come to accept the light and lead others toward it.
John the Baptizer preached a message of hope and forgiveness in the midst of the darkness showing the hope and promise of the light-to-come. It seems clear that he was met with great enthusiasm as he offered a new way of looking at old things and showed a promise of things to come. Like many, perhaps indeed all prophets, John was far more popular with the common folk -- the hoi polloi -- than he was with the rabbinic scholars and political elites.
The people wanted the message of forgiveness, hope and light that he delivered and they wanted more. Their leaders preferred to keep them dependent upon the legal system and the prescripts of old.
John knew what they did not -- he was only the servant of change and not its agent. The true light, the true hope, was still to come. John at least sensed, if he did not know for sure, that the time of fulfillment was present in his midst. He knew it was immanent, but just how immanent, we are uncertain.
We see in the Church today this same tension experienced at the time of John and Jesus. There is a struggle between the old order and the new order. Each believes the other is off kilter and is stifling the work of the Holy Spirit. Instead of being the light to the world, the church has become a flicker instead of a beacon.
Every age struggles to discern who the prophets are. Many of the prophets of old were killed. Many of the prophets -- apostles, missionaries, visionaries, evangelizers -- of the new dispensation have been martyred or dismissed. Some are false prophets, some prophesize for the notoriety that comes with being a prophet, and some have an incomplete message.
The truest test of a prophets is the standard set by John. He knew he wasn’t the messiah and he never made or accepted any claims to be so. Many false prophets think they are the messiah; many false prophets claim more than they know; many false prophets believe they are in sole possession of the truth.
What are we supposed to do? Discernment is not easy, but we heed the voice of the Church and keep our eyes focused on the light. We cannot allow the distractions of in-fighting and parochialism to deter us from proclaiming the merciful love of God manifest in the Incarnate Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.