Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
“Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
This is light we already have if we are united to Christ. To be of Christ, a disciple of Christ—Christ in the world and yet in heaven too—is to live the truth in love: “the one who lives by the truth comes out into the light so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God” (John 3:21).
I suggest that the fundamental obstacle to letting our light shine is that we are afraid to admit it into our consciousness. An example might be when we say something, either to an individual or in a group setting, and it is acknowledged as true and very worthwhile. If we are not self-satisfied by such compliments, we tend to discount them. “Well, it really came from the Holy Spirit,” we might say. That is very true! But the Spirit has used us in a fine way that benefits others—and ourselves—and we need to take it into the prayer of gratitude and into the prayer of apostleship. That is, “I want to be light for others!”
Jesus says that we are either with Him in the light or apart from Him in the darkness.
Everywhere we are before the angels. May we praise God for being his reflectors.
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections