Sunday, April 02, 2006
Of Things Divine: Choosing Between Shadows and the Sonshine, Lent 4-B
It’s a question I hear asked often, especially by the older generations like mine: What’s wrong with the world today? Nobody seems to have a definitive answer because the opinions are so varied. It’s a riddle that mankind has tried to answer for generation after generation. I’m certain that Plato posed the question in some philosophical way. The prophets railed against the problems of their generations. Jesus challenged his generation. The saints have stood in opposition to the evils of every generation from which they sprung.
In our time some will want to accuse the left of being too liberal while other accuse the right for being too conservation. Liberals are too soft of crime, some say. Others say that conservatives are hate-mongers. But it is not whether one is on the right or the left of an issue that really matters. What matters is that too many people have forgotten that in addition to there being two sides to an issue there is also a top and a bottom to an issue. There is also light and darkness.
Too often we forget to bring the Word of God to a debate over problems in society. We are far too sophisticated to turn to religion. But it is the Word of God that hasn’t changed … not one bit. The question for our society is not right or left, it is right or wrong. It is darkness or light. The Word of God still speaks of the difference between sin and righteousness, the difference between morality and corruption, the difference between truth and falsehood, the difference between good and evil, the difference between purity and putridity, the difference between nobility and deviltry, the difference between heaven and hell, between redemption and destruction, between God and Beelzebub, between day and night, between light and darkness.
The inescapable judgment of light confronts all of us. When light comes, it shows everything. You’ll notice that even when we are physically soiled or disheveled, we like to stick to the shadows as much as possible. Light can be powerful – as MLGW would gladly assure us – but it is also discriminating. Light is always a judge. What got by in the dark doesn’t get by in the light.
I am often bothered when I choose to eat in a restaurant that is so dimly lighted that I have to use the candle on the table to read the menu. What are they trying to hide? The presentation of the food? The quality of the meal? Insects that surf the walls? The kind of activity that might occur in the back rows of the second balcony of a movie theater?
When Jesus opened the eyes of the man born blind it was not just a show to vex the Pharisees. It was not a miracle that was only intended to increase membership in his body of disciples. When Jesus opened that man’s eyes the man no longer lived in darkness but in light. He was empowered to be discriminating … to see the Truth … and to walk in its ways.
This is what happens to every Christian when they begin to welcome the power of Christ into their lives. Things change. The way they live changes. It is called metanoia, or conversion. They become more discriminating. And, they are eager to talk about the reason for their change. For some it happens early in life, like for Maria Goretti, for example. For others it is much later in life. For our catechumens who go through their second scrutiny today, we hope and pray it is happening right now even as they prepare for baptism.
Things that we once found acceptable are no longer embraced because we walk in the light of Truth and holiness. Historically, things like cannibalism, slavery, apartheid have all fallen out of practice as the Light of the World shone on them and revealed the evils that were present in their practice. Those that cling to racism and prejudice continue to reject the light of Christ and remain blinded to the law that supersedes even the Ten Commandments: the Law of Love by which no one has the right to deny any person in the world, whether they be born or pre-born, the love and respect that is theirs as a creation of God. Christ, the light of which we sing at the great Easter Vigil, came to the outcasts, the despised, the downtrodden, and the unwanted people of the world.
Sometimes we say we have seen the light but continue to live in the darkness. Sometimes we live like we love the darkness!
Early on in my years as a priest some parents brought their daughter to me with the plea to “talk some sense into her” because she had become unruly, disobedient and very negative toward the Church. They said she “thought I was cool,” so they wanted me to work some kind of magic. I asked the 17-year-old young woman what she thought the problem was between her and her parents. After some coaxing she said, “They just don’t understand what in means to be a 17-year-old in 1985.” She added, “This is the time of my life when I am supposed to be having fun, and they just don’t get it, Father.” I listened as she outlined a variety of circumstances in which her parents “embarrassed” her and made her angry. When I asked is she ever thought about the possibility that maybe she had embarrassed her parents or hurt them she responded, ‘Well, Father, they should know better. I know some of the things I do are wrong but I have to life today or I will miss out on my opportunity. There’s plenty of time left to act like my parents!” Ah Ha! I paused for a moment and asked her, ‘So when you have a 17-year-old daughter you are going to let her do whatever she wants and not be worried that she is making wrong choices or that she might get hurt?” She didn’t say a word. She just dropped her eyes and looked at the floor. She knew she wanted to be in the light even though she was acting like she preferred the shadows of darkness.
Jesus said, “I came not to judge the world but to redeem the world.” But I another place He says: “For judgment I came into the world, and if I judge, my judgment is true.” Is that a contradiction? It sounds almost like a head-on collision. But there is no contradiction. The explanation is very simple. Christ is the light, a light no darkness can extinguish. He did not come to judge the world, but, in coming, he cannot help but judge the world, because He is light and light exposes what is hidden in the dark. And His light reveals the sins that the dark night hides so cleverly.
The light leaves no secrets. It exposes all deceptions, all sinful contradictions, all of the bitter meanness within us. The light is there and it always, somehow gets through. Hide in the darkness all you want to. Cling to your precious little darknesses! Hang on to them! But the penetrating judgment of the light of Christ will reach even you.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it so clearly: “Just when we are safest, there’s a sunset touch, a flower bell, someone’s death, and, lo, He stands before us, blocking our path so that we cannot go on until we have dealt with Him.”
My brothers and sisters, we are called to stand squarely in the light and be seen for who are rather than stay in the shadowy darkness in secret.
Some people love the darkness more than light.
I pray you are not among them.
In our time some will want to accuse the left of being too liberal while other accuse the right for being too conservation. Liberals are too soft of crime, some say. Others say that conservatives are hate-mongers. But it is not whether one is on the right or the left of an issue that really matters. What matters is that too many people have forgotten that in addition to there being two sides to an issue there is also a top and a bottom to an issue. There is also light and darkness.
Too often we forget to bring the Word of God to a debate over problems in society. We are far too sophisticated to turn to religion. But it is the Word of God that hasn’t changed … not one bit. The question for our society is not right or left, it is right or wrong. It is darkness or light. The Word of God still speaks of the difference between sin and righteousness, the difference between morality and corruption, the difference between truth and falsehood, the difference between good and evil, the difference between purity and putridity, the difference between nobility and deviltry, the difference between heaven and hell, between redemption and destruction, between God and Beelzebub, between day and night, between light and darkness.
The inescapable judgment of light confronts all of us. When light comes, it shows everything. You’ll notice that even when we are physically soiled or disheveled, we like to stick to the shadows as much as possible. Light can be powerful – as MLGW would gladly assure us – but it is also discriminating. Light is always a judge. What got by in the dark doesn’t get by in the light.
I am often bothered when I choose to eat in a restaurant that is so dimly lighted that I have to use the candle on the table to read the menu. What are they trying to hide? The presentation of the food? The quality of the meal? Insects that surf the walls? The kind of activity that might occur in the back rows of the second balcony of a movie theater?
When Jesus opened the eyes of the man born blind it was not just a show to vex the Pharisees. It was not a miracle that was only intended to increase membership in his body of disciples. When Jesus opened that man’s eyes the man no longer lived in darkness but in light. He was empowered to be discriminating … to see the Truth … and to walk in its ways.
This is what happens to every Christian when they begin to welcome the power of Christ into their lives. Things change. The way they live changes. It is called metanoia, or conversion. They become more discriminating. And, they are eager to talk about the reason for their change. For some it happens early in life, like for Maria Goretti, for example. For others it is much later in life. For our catechumens who go through their second scrutiny today, we hope and pray it is happening right now even as they prepare for baptism.
Things that we once found acceptable are no longer embraced because we walk in the light of Truth and holiness. Historically, things like cannibalism, slavery, apartheid have all fallen out of practice as the Light of the World shone on them and revealed the evils that were present in their practice. Those that cling to racism and prejudice continue to reject the light of Christ and remain blinded to the law that supersedes even the Ten Commandments: the Law of Love by which no one has the right to deny any person in the world, whether they be born or pre-born, the love and respect that is theirs as a creation of God. Christ, the light of which we sing at the great Easter Vigil, came to the outcasts, the despised, the downtrodden, and the unwanted people of the world.
Sometimes we say we have seen the light but continue to live in the darkness. Sometimes we live like we love the darkness!
Early on in my years as a priest some parents brought their daughter to me with the plea to “talk some sense into her” because she had become unruly, disobedient and very negative toward the Church. They said she “thought I was cool,” so they wanted me to work some kind of magic. I asked the 17-year-old young woman what she thought the problem was between her and her parents. After some coaxing she said, “They just don’t understand what in means to be a 17-year-old in 1985.” She added, “This is the time of my life when I am supposed to be having fun, and they just don’t get it, Father.” I listened as she outlined a variety of circumstances in which her parents “embarrassed” her and made her angry. When I asked is she ever thought about the possibility that maybe she had embarrassed her parents or hurt them she responded, ‘Well, Father, they should know better. I know some of the things I do are wrong but I have to life today or I will miss out on my opportunity. There’s plenty of time left to act like my parents!” Ah Ha! I paused for a moment and asked her, ‘So when you have a 17-year-old daughter you are going to let her do whatever she wants and not be worried that she is making wrong choices or that she might get hurt?” She didn’t say a word. She just dropped her eyes and looked at the floor. She knew she wanted to be in the light even though she was acting like she preferred the shadows of darkness.
Jesus said, “I came not to judge the world but to redeem the world.” But I another place He says: “For judgment I came into the world, and if I judge, my judgment is true.” Is that a contradiction? It sounds almost like a head-on collision. But there is no contradiction. The explanation is very simple. Christ is the light, a light no darkness can extinguish. He did not come to judge the world, but, in coming, he cannot help but judge the world, because He is light and light exposes what is hidden in the dark. And His light reveals the sins that the dark night hides so cleverly.
The light leaves no secrets. It exposes all deceptions, all sinful contradictions, all of the bitter meanness within us. The light is there and it always, somehow gets through. Hide in the darkness all you want to. Cling to your precious little darknesses! Hang on to them! But the penetrating judgment of the light of Christ will reach even you.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it so clearly: “Just when we are safest, there’s a sunset touch, a flower bell, someone’s death, and, lo, He stands before us, blocking our path so that we cannot go on until we have dealt with Him.”
My brothers and sisters, we are called to stand squarely in the light and be seen for who are rather than stay in the shadowy darkness in secret.
Some people love the darkness more than light.
I pray you are not among them.
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