The Blazing Fire… and the Sun of Justice
Some people just light up the room when they walk into it. They have a cheerful, easygoing attitude, and they just make everyone feel better.
You know what else lights up a room? Flipping the light switch. If the room is clean and in good order, it looks great in the light. If the room is a mess, the light shows that, as well.
Jesus lights up the room – in both of these senses. “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
The presence of Jesus in our lives brings to light the attitude of our hearts – whether they are free and filled with love of God and neighbor, or turned upside down and bound by disordered attachments.
We believe that Jesus will “come again to judge the living and the dead”, and our attention in these last weeks of the Church year is drawn to his Second Coming. He judges us by the light of his love and truth. How will our hearts receive this light?
When Nicodemus came to speak with Jesus at night, the Lord told him, “the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” (John 3:19-21)
The first reading today also describes this two-fold effect of the light or judgment of the “day of the Lord.” “Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” (Malachi 3:19-20)
It is true that the Lord will come again one day as our judge. It is also true that He comes to us each day, in the unfolding circumstances of our lives and in our neighbor.
Do not be afraid to let the Lord shed his light in your heart and life. The light of his grace and mercy can convict our hearts, showing us where and how our hearts are very unlike His. He wants to wake us up, to heal and transform those dark corners of our hearts and lives that we might prefer to keep hidden. It can be painful and challenging to let the Lord light up our lives. But the things we allow to lurk in the dark corners of our hearts, those are the things that can choke off life and joy in our lives. What the Lord brings to light, he heals. In that way, every aspect of our lives and our history can become witness to the goodness and mercy of God. In the full light of his love, we can begin to live without fear. “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom should I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)
Do not be afraid to let the Lord light up your life. If there are dark corners you have kept hidden, allow his healing light to enter in. In the sacrament of Confession, you can see even your sins in the light of his boundless mercy. He convicts our hearts not to harm and destroy then, but to call us out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9), and give us a share of his full and lasting joy.
“You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.” (Psalm 16:11)
“I have told you this, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)
-Fr. Tom
