Scripture:
Reflection:
In our Gospel reading, Jesus uses the image of a lamp to talk about sharing the Good News. With common-sense logic, He says, “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.” And then He says, “For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.” Perhaps here He is talking about the mystery of God’s love in His Cross and Resurrection.
And then He says something that really caught my attention: “Take care, then, how you hear.” To me, that is a great challenge, because it cautions me to not only hear what gives me comfort, or allows me to be comfortable, but to also hear what can make uncomfortable, as I realize more and more, what is being demanded of me to be a disciple of the One who poured out His Body and Blood for me. For instance, some of the things we hear in our first reading from Proverbs: “Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim when it is in your power to do it for him. Say not to your neighbor, ‘Go and come again, tomorrow I will give,’ when you can give at once.”
We need to accept both the comforts and the challenges Jesus gives us, which are given out of love for us. In accepting both, we share the light of Christ with those who wander in the darkness of both despair on one hand, and greed on the other. May the light of God’s love shine through us.
Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama.