I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of darkness and light as I reflected on today’s readings. In the first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, the angel of the Lord visits the Apostles “during the night” and opens the door of their prison, telling them, “Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.”
Then the Apostles “went to the temple early in the morning and taught” (emphasis mine).
Today’s Psalm says, “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame.” Again, radiance . . . light.
For me, this reflection on the nature of light and darkness gets even more interesting in today’s Gospel selection, where one section begins: “And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”
That quote is from John 3:19, and those words are shortly after the world-famous John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”).
So, we can tell that darkness is bad from the tenor of the Gospel selection. But why is it bad? Why is light good?
Notice the link in today’s readings between “light” and “getting stuff done.” The Apostles — even after being freed — waited until morning to begin their teaching. In the Gospel selection, it continues the thought begun above: “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.”
Now, obviously, there’s a nuts-and-bolts reason for teaching in the light, or doing evil deeds in darkness; you want people to be awake and see you when you’re doing something good, and you want people to be sleeping and not paying attention to you when you’re doing ill!
But there’s a spiritual dimension to darkness as well . . . and to understand it, it’s helpful to reflect on the scientific nature of light. So, how do you get rid of darkness?
Well, you can wait for the light. In a physical sense, most of us live in a part of the world where the sun is going to rise eventually, so we can just hold out. That’s what the Apostles did before they went to the temple.
You can move somewhere where there is light. If you’re in a dark room, you can move to another part of the house; if you’re in a dark house during the day, you can go outside.
Or you can do something to actively bring light to the world. Turn on a light switch. Light a candle. Open a window. Clean your glasses.
I’m sure you can see where I’m going metaphorically here . . .
If you’re in a place of darkness — that is, if there’s an absence of light in your world — it’s certainly possible to wait for the light! In the same way that the sun always rises, so too do spiritually darker times often dissipate on their own, with the light of a child’s giggle, the wisdom of a particularly illuminating homily in a Sunday Mass, or the beauty of a new day.
You can also go where there’s light: the Sacrament of Confession, a meditative retreat, or even a Marian grotto. Sometimes a change of perspective is enough to shed light on your situation.
Or, you can actively shed light on the dark corners of your life. The final words of today’s Gospel selection are “. . . whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” And the ability to serve as the light to others — through deeds, through proclaiming the Truth, through living a virtuous life that serves as an example for others – is instrumental in God’s plan for the world. There’s a hymn I love by Jean A. Greif called “We Are the Light of the World,” with a chorus that goes, “We are the light of the world. May our light shine before all, that they may see the good that we do, and give glory to God.”
Obviously, God is the light in our lives. And there are many ways to live in that light, to encounter it, to make it real for us. Perhaps it’s best to be aware of your options and structure your life according to how you want God’s light in your life. Because, if you’re not careful, you could find yourself dwelling in the darkness.
Today’s readings: Acts 5:17-26; Ps 34:2-3,4-5,6-7,8-9; Jn 3:16-21
