Where Is the Light?

I confess that as I was lamenting our national decadence in my prayers, I heard what I believe was the Divine Word asking me a question. "Where is the Light?" was the sense I made out of it.

I answered, "Of course, the Light is Jesus Christ. He is the Light that came into the world."

Despite the certainty with which I answered, once again the voice of the Divine Word spoke in my mind and said, "Where is the Light?"

I knew that my first answer was correct, as far as it went, but after a few moments of reflection I thought that it had probably not gone far enough. So I said, "The Light is also those who believe, the church, for Jesus said not only, "I am the light of the world." He also said "You are the light of the world." I knew I had it right this time.

So I was quite chagrined when a third time I heard the Divine Word say, "Where is the light?" I had begun to feel like Peter the third time Jesus asked him "Do you love me?"

Why would the Lord ask me a third time, "Where is the Light?" Then a bit of light dawned on me. Here I am complaining about the current state of darkness in America. Yet where do I expect the light to come from. It certainly can't come from those who do not know Christ. We have no light in ourselves. If we have light, it comes from our reflecting the light we see in Jesus.

So, if the light in America is dim, whose fault is it? Is it the worldly s, the abortion doctors, the oil tycoons (who are bleeding us dry), or the secular progressives? Of course not. How can we expect a people in darkness to provide light? If the light is dim, it is the fault of the church, more specifically the fault of you and me for not shining more brightly.

Quite frankly, this thought somewhat discouraged me, because I do not know how to shine more brightly. So I asked, "Why is our light so dim, at which point the Divine Word spoke words I recognized -- they were the words of Jesus in John 17 where he said, "When you are one with Me as I am one with the Father, then will the world know that He has sent me."

This Article was published on 07/16/2008 and filed in