Good morning. Jesus is the light of the world. He is the Word of God that lights our path in the journey of life. At our baptism, we received the light of Christ. As the Order of Baptism states: “this light is entrusted to [us] to be kept burning brightly, so that. . . enlightened by Christ, [we] may walk always as a child of the light and, persevering in faith, may run to meet the Lord when he comes with all the Saints in the heavenly court.” This is the light that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of in today’s Gospel, a light that should not be concealed with a vessel or set under a bed, but placed on a lampstand for all to see the light.
Moreover, during Order of Baptism, there is the Ephaphatha Rite that goes like this: “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, grant that you may soon receive his word with your ears and profess the faith with your lips, to the glory and praise of God the Father.” And so, my sisters and brothers in Christ, at our Baptism, which we have all received, we are called to be participants in the mission of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To use a sports analogy, we did not get baptized to stay on the “sidelines” but to enter into the “game”, to step into the mission field, and evangelize, to “[go], therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [Jesus has] commanded [us]” (Matthew 28:19-20).
How have we spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in our lives, starting with our families and in our circle of friends, in word and in how we live our lives as witnesses of Jesus’ love and mercy in the world? Because, on Judgment Day, when we stand before the Lord of lords and King of kings, when all our words and actions are laid bare before God and us to see, for “there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light,” how will God judge us as a believer and follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
We come to Mass and receive the word of God in the Liturgy of the Word and the real presence of our Jesus Christ himself in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We are then sent forth from Mass to “go in peace, glorifying the Lord” by our lives, not only to be the light of Christ but to bring that light into a world fallen into darkness. That, my sisters and brothers in Christ, is what it means to live boldly as Catholics in the world, strengthened by the graces of the Sacraments we have received, especially the Eucharist, the source and summit of our Christian life.
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