The resurrection of Jesus is synonymous to the triumph of light over darkness. This is why the service of light on Easter night and the paschal candle that is displayed in church throughout the Easter season have such prominent place in our liturgy. This is also .why the light of Christ, represented by the candle light is presented to the newly baptized person on Easter night or on any occasion when new members are welcomed into the Church through the ceremony of baptism. The Church consistently invites all men and women to abandon the darkness of ignorance and sin, and to embrace the light of Christ.
Prophet Isaiah tells us that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, and that on those who had lived in a land of deep shadows, a great light has dawned. This dawning light is Jesus Christ. Yet to receive the light of Christ, to be enlightened unto salvation by the one who alone is the Light of the world, men and women must first admit that they dwell in darkness – that they are blind. Perhaps this is the difficult part, because many blind people find it difficult to admit that they are blind and in need of light, and so they keep groping in the dark, and often leading others into the ditch.
In the story of the man born blind which we read about in John 9:1-41 however, Jesus met a blind man who had no pretensions that he could see. He was born blind and remained blind until he met Jesus. When he met Jesus, he submitted himself completely to the healing power of Him who is the Light of the world, and there occurred a major transformation in his life. In healing this man, Jesus demonstrates to everyone in word and deed that he is indeed the light that has come into the world, which darkness cannot overpower.
As Jesus opens the eyes of the physically blind, he also, and more importantly, removes the darkness in the person's heart, which is often the root cause of so much misery and pain. Jesus shines his light upon the human society which had been dominated all the while by the prince of darkness. In John 8:12 he asserts that he is the light of the world, and that no one who follows him will ever walk in darkness. He has power to take away the darkness of our hearts, to heal us of our blindness, and make us the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14).
Among the Jews of old, blindness was synonymous to poverty. The blind person was the quintessential poor man, the man abandoned to his own forces. In healing the man of blindness in the story referred to above, Jesus elevates him, he restores the man's dignity in the human society, and assures him of a place in the kingdom of light. In performing the miracle of healing for this man, Jesus conquers the night in which the blind man had been imprisoned. He brought daylight into the man's life. Jesus can do the same for us today, not only as individuals, but for our entire society, if we would abandon all our pretensions and admit that we are indeed sick and in need of healing.
The Lord can restore our sight and our sanity, if we shout his name loud and clear as the other blind beggar did on the way to Jericho. He is full of mercy and compassion. He wishes to heal our bodies of heartaches and headaches. He wishes to heal us of hypertension and our diabetes, and even cancer and HIV/AIDS. He also wishes to heal our souls and spirits of sin and the resultant alienation from God. He wishes to heal our sick human society of hatred, social injustice, unforgiveness, wickedness, vengeance, violence and war.
From Nigeria to Somalia, and from Syria to South Sudan, and from Iraq to Afghanistan, Jesus wishes to heal the world of the scandal of war and the embarrassing phenomenon of child soldiers, and refugees. He wishes to heal our natural environment of the pollution and degradation which our sinful and irresponsible lifestyle has brought upon it, and to restore the whole of creation to its original order and beauty. Jesus will not pass us by without stopping to heal us of our woundedness, and free us from our dark prisons. He will not-pass us by without stopping to free us from our agony and distress, for as he says, "if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed."
I have been thinking a great deal about my experience at Reconciliation this past Saturday. I felt an intense and unexplainable urge to go and confess my sins when I woke up that morning. I try to go every six weeks or so, but this was no routine visit to the priest for me. I needed to unburden myself of the numerous venial sins I had committed since I last participated in this Sacrament.
Purest Gold: God's Refining Fire in our Lives »
After salvation, many young Christians wonder if there's anything more to their newfound faith than just the security blanket of "being a Christian." Time and time again, God shows himself as a "refiner," and our lives are as gold. God started leading me in this study to understand what He was doing in my life, as well as in the lives of others.
Picking up my pen to write this column, I couldn’t imagine how time flies. Since the last publication of this column I have gone through a lot, especially the loss of my dear mother to whom I dedicate this article. Not only her, but seems I lost a whole generation of my close family.
How to Achieve Business Excellence »
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings; He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29
Spiritual Development for our Youth »
Most of us youth in today's fast moving world are easily thrown off by difficulties and worries.
The theme of conversion is a thread that runs all through Lent, but conversion takes on different aspects throughout the phases of Lent. The first two and a half weeks focused on the interior turning of hearts; the liturgy urges the faithful to reflect and examine consciences thoroughly.
Saint Josephine Bakhita »
Feast Day: February 8
Patron Saint Of: Sudan
Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.
Catholics Must Fast More Intensely This Lent»
The Norbertine Canons of St. Michael's Abbey have created this digital Lenten retreat so that you can journey through this holy season alongside them. If you want to have one of your best Lenten seasons yet, join us in our Lenten Program "The Great Fast" - https://theabbotscircle.com/the-great-fast-join
When Your Faith Is Put to the Test - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon»
Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Abraham binds and is ready to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command.
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