FEBRUARY 5, 2017
7:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 5:30 PM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
Across the back of our church, behind the last row, are eight windows … four on each side. Go ahead, turn around and check. I would guess that for most of us, we’ve walked past these windows countless times. If I asked you how many windows there were, you’d have guessed maybe 6, 8, or 10. But there’s eight.
And going in order from left to right (that is, my left to my right), we have: St. Patrick, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Rose of Lima; and then, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Apollinaris, St. Therese of Liseaux, and St. Frances Cabrini.
So, behind the back rows, or actually behind all the pews in the nave of the church, there are eight saints. Which is kind of cool – that is, if you consider that “the saints have our back.” I like the way that sounds, and I think it’s a good way for us to think about the Communion of Saints.
If you come to church really early … when it’s still dark outside. Or if you come really late … again, when it’s dark outside. All of our beautiful stained glass windows are sort of “blah.” You can make out something … maybe a sort of human shape . . . maybe with with a funny-shaped head. But without the sunlight coming in from outside, the windows sort of lose their charm . . . they aren’t very beautiful at all.
Today is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Our readings have a common theme of “light.”
The prophet Isaiah encourages the people of Israel to practice what we might consider the “Corporal Works of Mercy” in order that our “light shall break forth like the dawn . . . and the glory of the LORD [will] be [our] rear guard.”
And the prophet goes even further, encouraging the practice of the virtues so that “light shall rise . . . in the darkness, and the gloom shall become . . . like midday.”
That is, being merciful and virtuous . . . has a positive outcome.
The psalm speaks how those who are “just” – that is, those in right-relationship with God and others – are “a light in darkness.”
And Jesus tells His disciples – and us as well – in the Gospel that we “are the light of the world,” and that our light “cannot be hidden,” nor should we “put it under a bushel basket;” but rather, that it “must shine before others” for the glory of God the Father.
St. Paul, in the Epistle, talks about how the Gospel shows forth the “power of God” without any need for embellishment or addition . . . and that the power of the Holy Spirit shows forth in the message of Jesus Christ, and in His Sacrifice for our redemption. That when our Faith is rooted in the Cross of Christ . . . that nothing more is needed.
And so for ourselves, we should learn from the example of the saints . . . and from their images in stained glass. For the windows, without sunlight, they are shadowy figures . . . not much more than a darkened wall. The beauty of the windows requires light to show through them . . . and the beauty of the saints requires the light of Christ to shine forth as well.
It’s sometimes too easy for us to relegate our Faith to 45 minutes a week. But the light of God . . . the light of Christ . . . and the power of the Holy Spirit . . . is in us . . . through Baptism, Confirmation, and Matrimony or Holy Orders. And we shouldn’t try to hide it . . . or hide from it . . . the rest of the week.
Because it is only when we allow Christ’s light to shine through us . . . in our lives . . . in what we say . . . and in what we do . . . that we are able to manifest the glory of God in our lives . . . and the power of the Holy Spirit in our actions . . . and in our words.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ . . . let us recognize that light within us. And let us realize that we “are the light of the world.” May the manifold graces of the Eucharist we receive today allow us to show forth in our lives this week . . . the brightness of God’s glory . . . and the light of Jesus Christ . . . in our daily lives . . . at home . . . at work or school . . . and in the world . . . a world that desperately needs the light of the Gospel . . . the light of our Savior . . . Jesus Christ . . . the Lord.
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