During ordinary time, the first reading and the gospel usually share a theme. Sometimes the link is strong and others it is somewhat weak, but the link between the two readings is always there.

Today the link is extremely strong. Look carefully and you will see two references to being the light, one from the words of Isaiah and the other from the Gospel. It is so strong that the words of Isaiah help us to understand the words that Jesus spoke about being light and darkness.

If you look at the list of behaviors Isaiah warns against, not only do you see them as negative or even evil, you see them as tools for one group to over power another. Darkness seeks to overpower and light empowers. You see that clearly here.

Isaiah prophesizes: “If you remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech . . . Then your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your gloom shall become like midday.”

New American Bible. (2011). (Revised Edition., Is 58:9-10). Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.”

This action of slander and riling up people to do your evil deeds is a common tool used by the most evil of people in the Old Testament. The most famous use of this tool is by Queen Jezebel, the evil Phoenician queen, who used it to get the town’s people to murder a man so that her husband King Ahab could steal the man’s family farm. It is considered one of the darkest of sins and, indeed, it is one of the reasons why the Ten Commandments outlaw it.

The Pharisees used it against Jesus to have Him crucified. Indeed, it is still used today. One of the tactics used by some protesters at the Cathedral was to call all priests evil and indeed some even screamed at children through bull horns warning them that all priests were evil. Why? Because it was their desire to overpower and silence the Church, to end opposition so that there would be a wide path for reproductive policies recently implemented.

This was the chosen tool seeking to overpower the influence of the Catholic Church taught at several of our local universities.

But notice the difference, darkness seeks to overpower and light empowers.

We see both in Isaiah and in the Gospel the call to be light. Jesus reminds us that we are the light of the world. That is a statement of empowerment. He is not telling us the nice thing is to be the light. He is not saying, if we had a chance it would be good for us to be light. He is empowering us to be the light that shines in the darkness by channeling our relationship with Him to those around us. we do that by living in a radical form of love that goes beyond what the world can give. A good model of this love is what you see Pope Francis doing. It is a seeking to used by God as a channel of His love and peace. We do that by praying for it, by seeking to grow closer to Him and by living the Gospel as He calls us to do. That is a radical form of love that sees all as children of God.

It is not a just a call; it is an empowerment. You and I were empowered through our Baptism, the Eucharist and Confirmation, the sacraments of initiation, to be lights to the world. That means we are empowered be lights into the darkness.

You often hear me say, when people lament about where this world is going, that we warned people ten years ago that this would happen. Indeed, this week one UN agency called on the Catholic Church to change her teachings on abortion, contrception, and other sexual morality,  something we warned ten years ago that was happening at the UN. Many leaders of our country have embraced the darkness that seeks to overpower the light and to silence the light. But the reality is, darkness is powerless in the light. In fact, the light destroys darkness, just by being light.

When Jesus calls us to be the light, it is not a benign thing. It is a powerful act that empowers people to overpower darkness. How do we do that? Darkness has no power over light. If you seek to do the right thing, darkness will try to overpower you, but will fail, because it has not strength against the light.

When we were going through the severe persecution a priest friend reminded us that many have attempted the same tactics against the Church for two millennia and they all ultimately failed, the Church is still here. She is strongest when her members seek to be the light; she is weakest when her members seek to embrace the power of darkness. But since the Church is rooted in Christ’s light she is always able to withstand the darkness. The light is God’s wisdom which is mighty power and which, when we embrace it, we become agents of the light.

Embrace the light and let it shine and this parish will grow. Darkness always seeks to silence the light, but darkness is a phantom and light is real. It is unable to silence the light.

What does darkness look like? Did you not see that last week, with the death of a famous actor through heroin and the news stories about how prevalent it is? The darkness seeks to lead people away from the light into death; the light seeks to lead people to healing, and light.

How do we live empowered to be light? By seeking always to do the will of God in all things and trusting in His power in our lives. To see every difficulty as a reason to invite God into your life and to work through you to be made stronger through this difficulty and finally to allow yourself to be formed as one who trusts and relies on God for all things. Then you learn to be the light to others. It is a long slow learning process, but it is real and it is powerful.

So many who are not here have not realized they too were empowered to be the light, and as a result they have embraced darkness. Our role is to educate them to see the empowerment they have as the light and to reject darkness and embrace light.

When we do God’s will, we are the light, when we reject God’s will, we embrace darkness. Let us embrace the light in a radical way and let our light shine in a way that darkness is silenced again.

Darkness seeks to overpower, light empowers. Let the light empower you to overcome the darkness.

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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