Epiphany (2006): Light from Light
I am sure that we all have the experience of waking up some mornings
and wishing things were different.
We might even wish we were somewhere or someone
else. We can feel oppressed by situations which envelope us with what feels like darkness. We wish we had a different way
of seeing things or experiencing them.
These are very lonely experiences of us human
beings, experiences in which we are convinced that no-one could possibly understand our pain.
Paradoxically, that loneliness can be collective.
Who would not wish that there was no terrorism, no war, no threat of avian flu, no poverty, hunger or disease?
But they are all there, and we humans seem incapable
of letting down the barriers between us to find rational, just and legal solutions together.
Man needs light, a light that will provide a new
vision of what is possible, a light that will provide the energy to implement that vision. Each of us needs that light individually
and all of us need it together.
We need a light that will change how we see reality.
Being realistic has often come to mean being suspicious, attributing evil intentions, building up the power of force. This
kind of realism basically considers the human being as bad.
But this is false realism.
It is the realism of Herod: “there will
be no king but I! Let any pretender be killed!” Herod faked interest in the wisdom of the Magi and in the Child they
sought. He used his intelligence to murder.
Herod’s tools were secrecy, cunning and
deceit. Herod was his own vision: for Herod there was no future that was not Herod. Any other proposal for the future met
with his fury.
The Magi are different.
They had been looking for a new light, a new vision,
for a long time. Their patient searching was rewarded, first with the light of a star, then with the Light from Light, the
Son of God made flesh.
Were they naïve in their dealings with Herod?
Perhaps. But their sincerity in dialoging with him was rewarded with protection by the light.
They sought out new life, not murder. They sought to adore, not to be adored. They
gave of themselves; they gave themselves. They took nothing, but they were given
the fullness of joy in seeing the Light of the world.
They were not too proud to share that light with
the shepherds, with the poor. Goodness knows what they did with that joy and light when they returned to their own countries.
That light shines still. Indeed, it is even more
brilliant than it was on the Epiphany, because the Child has now fulfilled the mission for which he was born: he has brought
to light a new humanity.
In his risen flesh, the light of eternity shines
forth. And that flesh is in us by the Eucharist we receive and by our baptism into the Mystical Body of the Lord, another
name for the Church.
The Church universal is therefore the light universal.
“You are the light of the world,” says Jesus, “a city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden.”
The Epiphany is now the shining forth to the world
of the light of his Resurrection in and through the Church. But the Church does not receive that light for itself only: we
are the light of the world!
The Word of God conserved and expounded by the
Church is intended for everyone. It is not enough that we know that Word, as Bible
or as Catechism, as theology or as good spiritual reading. It is not even enough that we allow that Word to be a light for
our own, personal and private lives.
For, “who lights a lamp to hide it under
a bushel? Surely it is put on the lamp-stand for everyone in the house?” That house is the world, it is human history,
it is human activity in all its forms. By definition, light is missionary: it goes out, it shines forth.
Christ’s vision of man is not bad, but good.
Can we dare to say that Christ is naïve? Or is it not the so-called realists who are naïve?
The evil in man will not endure for ever, because
objectively speaking it has already been destroyed. Our task is subjectively to make the goodness of the man called Jesus our very own and to pray and to work so that it can
be owned by the whole world.
The last word of history does not belong to war,
strife or darkness, but to peace, to harmony and to light. Because of Jesus, the light cannot now lose: the days of darkness
are numbered.
That is why it is our duty as believers to work
for the light and to work in the light. We have been given the new vision by the light of Christ.
That means, of course, first of all, that we are
to bring our own personal lives fully into the light of Christ.
It means no secrets from Christ.
It means a radical, once-and-for-all rejection
of resignation to sin.
It means a pro-active, courageous and patient
effort to examine our lives honestly in the face of Christ and solid and firm decisions to work with Him to be rid of our
own personal darkness.
It means forcing ourselves to go frequently to
confession so that darkness gets little chance in us to extend its dominion.
It means summoning the hidden resources of grace
in our baptism and confirmation to give real substance, quality and direction to our lives.
It means unleashing again in our marriages the
awareness of being called by God to be a sign of his unending love for mankind.
But there is more.
How will the world enjoy Christ’s light
if we are not its witnesses in and to the world? His light today comes through our witness.
Witness is not so much about dramatic actions
or words.
Witness, rather, is about the dramatic revolution
in our own hearts and consciences joyfully to accept that, unlike Herod, we are neither our own present nor our own future:
we exist because of Christ and for Christ.
Witness is to draw others into the awareness of
Christ alive and shining within us.
Witness is to have realized that Christ’s
vision of who I am is the only real one, and that my own obscure and self-concerned vision of myself is little more than a
shadow.
Witness draws dark hearts into the circle of the
light and life of Jesus Christ.
Witness renders loneliness impossible because
I live in the loving communion of Jesus and with all others who are one with him.
Please, do not think that this is impossible for
you: not only is it possible, it has already begun in your baptism. Not only is it possible: without it, you cannot inherit
the Kingdom of light.
Only, believe in Christ’s light within you!
Have the courage to let go of the neon lights, the city lights, not because they are all bad, but because if they are your
only light, the true Star of Bethlehem will not shine for you. You will never know the fullness of joy it gives, greater than
that of the Magi.
Let the light of Christ shine in your witness,
and you will be the stars lighting up the sky and giving delight even to the heart of God!
Msgr. Peter Magee
Sunday, January 8th, 2006
Annunciation, DC: 10.00 am
