Illuminate

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Illuminate

Blindness     Darkness

Awake     Arise     See

Christ Gives You Light

Visible

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:  Ephesians 5:8 to 14

You dwelt once in darkness

Now you are light in Jesus.

Live as persons of light

As light bears good fruit.

Learn what Jesus loves.

Avoid works of evil

As they produce shame.

Those works done in secret

Will be illuminated by the light.

" Awake from your sleep

Rise from your death,

Christ gives you light."

Reflection

It is so easy to fall into darkness!

A number of spiritual authors I have been reading lately are offering the same advice: turn off the news!

They are not advising us to be out of touch with what is going on but rather to be very careful that we do not get immersed in all the negativity. 

Many of the news shows want to get us upset, evoke fear, and distort reality. We can easily fall into the trap of dwelling on too much "bad" news and ignoring the Good News---the Gospel.

St. Paul warns us in this reading from Ephesians to avoid all that "darkness". He is telling us, as those spiritual writers do also, to dwell in the Light of Christ.

It does not mean that we look at life through rose colored glasses and ignore the evils around us. The Light of Christ leads us to bring the concern and strength of Jesus to those problems and to see each person we encounter as a reflection of Jesus---our sister and brother in Christ.

We try to learn what Jesus loves and we follow His example of reaching out to those everyone else ignores. Instead of passing by, we stop and look into the eyes and hearts of those on the margins.

It is tempting to "fall asleep" as Paul indicates by dwelling on what is wrong instead of following the Light.

Let us embrace the Light of Christ!

1. What do you think about the advice to turn off the news?

2. How do you avoid the trap of dwelling on the "bad" news instead of the Good News of the Gospel?

3. What does it mean for you to dwell in the Light of Christ?

4. How can you learn what Jesus loves?

5. What does Kathy's photo say to you?

(scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John J. McNamara)