Good morning. In today’s Gospel, Jesus spoke to [the Pharisees], saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Each and everyone of us received the light of Christ at our Baptism when the priest or deacon lit the Baptismal candle from the Easter candle and said, “Receive the light of Christ. . . Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly, so that your child, enlightened by Christ, may walk always as a child of the light and, persevering in the faith, may run to meet the Lord when he comes with all the Saints in the heavenly court.” In the Gospel of Matthew, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “YOU are the LIGHT of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (5:15-16).
Now, in today’s first reading, we see what happens when we allow our light to be hidden by sin and temptation. We hear that the two elders of the people “began to lust for [a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna. . .]” What did they do next? They “SUPPRESSED their consciences; they would NOT allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did NOT keep in mind just judgments.” They threaten her, saying, “. .. give in to OUR desire, and lie with us. If you refuse, we will testify against you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.”
In stark contrast to the two elders of the people, Susanna did not let the darkness of the world snuff out the light that God put in her heart, even in the face of extreme challenges and difficulties perpetrated against her by the two elders. She weighed her options, thinking to herself, “If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power.” However, being faithful to God, she knew that she had only one choice and said to two old men: “. . .it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.” And as she was wrongly accused by them and prosecuted by the assembly of the people, “[through] tears she looked up to heaven, for she TRUSTED in the Lord wholeheartedly. . . [and the] Lord HEARD her prayer.”
And so, when the darkness of the world tries to drag us down through sin and temptations, let us not be like the two elders, who would NOT allow their eyes to look to heaven. Rather, let us be like Susana, who did look up to heaven and recall what Jesus said: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” May our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving keep the light of Christ burning brightly in our souls and give us the courage to shine the light of Christ into the darkness that exists in the world around us through our words and actions.
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