LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

Fr. Luke A. Veronis

Our Lord Jesus says something remarkable in today's Gospel reading. We all know how Jesus proclaims, "I am the light of the world." Today, however, He says, "YOU are the light of the world... Let YOUR light so shine before others, that they may see YOUR good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Think about that for a moment. Jesus, the Light of the world, entrusts His Divine Light to each one of us. Imagine, the Eternal Light of the World dwelling richly in us and shining forth through ordinary men and women whose lives have been transformed by His grace. What an incredible and unbelievable blessing!

Yet, the question for us today is quite simple. Are we allowing that light of Christ to shine through us?

Not only when we come to church. Not only when we know people are watching us. Not only when we’re trying to be a Christian. But does His light shine through us in our homes among our family members when we put our guard down? At work with our colleagues when we are stressed out? With difficult people who constantly annoy us? With the lonely, forgotten, marginalized people who pass by us every day? Or what when we interact with those who hold different opinions from us and who are from the opposite political parity?!?

“Let YOUR LIGHT shine before others so that they may see your good works.”

Well, this upcoming week, our Church celebrates three extraordinary saints whose lives clearly reflect Christ’s light in beautiful and very different ways. First, we remember the Prophet Elijah, whose feast we celebrate tomorrow on July 20. Elijah lived during one of Israel's darkest periods. Idolatry had become normalized. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel led the people away from the true God and most people simply followed the crowd.

Yet, Elijah stood up completely alone. He confronted the rulers of his day. He challenged their false prophets. He called the people back to the one true God and to repentance! At Mount Carmel in front of the King and all of Israel, Elijah cried out, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is god follow him.”

Elijah teaches us that the light of Christ - and faithfulness in shining the light of God onto the world - is not measured by numbers or when we are in the majority. Almost all of Israel, including its leaders, had been deceived and chose the false gods of Baal. Elijah stood up alone against his entire nation.

Yet even after His great victory over the false priests of Baal, Elijah showed us that the greatest saints can become discouraged. Queen Jeezebel wanted to kill the prophet after his great victory, so he fled into the wilderness. He was exhausted. He felt alone. He considered himself a failure. He even prayed that he might die.

Imagine, one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament feeling lost and bewildered. Yet, his example comforts us because we see that even prophets, the faithful of God, become tired. Even saints can get discouraged. Even holy people feel alone.

God, however, did not abandon Elijah. He miraculously fed him. He strengthened him. And then God came revealed Himself to Elijah, not in the mighty winds, not in the shattering earthquake, not in the raging fire, but in a still small presence.

Sometimes we imagine that shining our light means doing spectacular things. Sometimes it may. Often, though, it begins by quietly dwelling in the presence of God and inviting His quiet Presence to come and dwell in us.

Let your light shine before others means imitating the Prophet Elijah in reflecting His Divine Light even in the darkest places, in places where no one wants any light to come!

Tomorrow on the same day as the Prophet Elijah, we also remember one of the most remarkable saints of the twentieth century - St. Maria Skobtsova of Paris. This was a twice divorced, revolutionary, who chose to smoke a cigarette and drink a beer at a pub instead of live behind a monastery wall. She desperately wanted to live in the middle of the world's brokenness and ugliness.

She opened houses for marginalized immigrants and refugees. She welcomed homeless who were alcoholics and struggling with addictions. She fed the hungry and those in despair. She embraced the brokenness and forgotten people. During the Nazi occupation of France, she helped rescue Jewish children, issuing fake baptismal certificates with St. Demetri Klepelin, in order to save their lives.

Eventually she was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. On Holy Saturday, 1945, shortly before the camp was liberated, she voluntarily took the place of another woman who had been chosen for the gas chamber. She died so another could live.

Her entire life is a witness to what it means to let your light shine before others. St. Maria once wrote, "The way to God lies through love of people… At the Last Judgment I shall not be asked whether I was successful in my ascetic exercises, but whether I fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the prisoners."

Her words echo today's Gospel. People should see our good works, not so they praise us, but so they glorify our Father in heaven. St. Maria understood something we often forget. Christianity is not simply believing the correct doctrines but living the correct life of allowing the love of Christ to become visible through our actions.

"Each person is the very icon of God incarnate in the world,” she profoundly stated. Imagine if we really believed that. Each person … that annoying coworker … the illegal immigrant … the lonely widow … the teen or young adult struggling with addiction … the difficult family member… the frustrating person who is on the other side of the political spectrum.

Each one bears the image of Christ! If we truly believed this, how differently would we speak to them? How differently would we listen to them? How differently would we love them?

Let your light shine before others means imitating St. Maria in our loving service to others, especially those most difficult to love.

Two days after we celebrate these two beautiful saints, we then remember St. Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles. How different her story is. She was a broken, despised, outcast who had seven demons torment her. Yet, her entire life changed when she encountered the light of Christ and became a new creation.

She never forgot what Christ had done for her. When nearly everyone else fled from the Cross in fear, Mary Magdalene remained next to her Savior with love. When the disciples hid behind locked doors after His death, Mary rose early in the morning to go to His tomb. While others allowed fear to overcome them, she remained faithful in love.

And because she remained faithful, she became the first witness of the Resurrection of our Lord. She heard those beautiful words of Christ calling her, “Mary!” One word. One voice. And immediately she recognized her Lord. Then Christ entrusted her with the greatest message in history, “Go and tell my brothers that I am risen from the dead!”

This broken, rejected, despised woman became the Apostle to the Apostles, sharing with them the Good News.

Notice how God did not choose the strongest, the smartest, or the most powerful. He chose one whose heart loved Him the most. What encouragement is that for us! We may think our past failures disqualifies us. We may think we have nothing to offer. Yet, Mary Magdalene says, “No!” She understood better than most that having been forgiven and receiving the mercy of God naturally leads her to become a light to others!

These three saints lived in different centuries. One stood before a king. One stood at the foot of the Cross and then before an empty tomb. The third stood among the most marginalized, until she died inside a concentration camp.

Different times. Different cultures. Different challenges. Yet each answered Christ's call in exactly the same way. They let His light shine brightly through them. The Prophet Elijah let the light of Christ shine through his courage against the world. St Maria of Paris let the light of Christ shine through her sacrificial service to the least of her brothers and sisters. St. Mary Magdalene let the light of Christ shine through her brokenness and past failures, and then through her extreme love for her Lord.

The world does not need more Christians who merely talk about light. The world needs Christians who radiate light. We radiate light when we forgive instead of hold grudges, when we serve instead of seek recognition, when we pray instead of complain, when we love instead of ignore. The light of Christ becomes visible and then people will glorify our Father in heaven.

May we have Elijah's courage. May we have Maria Skobtsova's compassionate service. May we have Mary Magdalene's faithful love. And when others see our good works, may they glorify our Father who is in heaven.