Let us give thanks for the people whose inner light is beautiful.
Anyone who has been cut off from light or, like those miners, trapped in a dark place, will know the deep hunger that rises within for this most taken-for-granted gift.
he amazing rescue of the 33 miners from deep below the earth’s surface in Chile last year had us riveted to the television. As each day passed, each week, tension mounted. How could they possibly survive in the darkness of that underground cave? When, after 33 days, they stepped out into the light the world rejoiced. Each man wore a pair of dark glasses to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. After weeks in darkness it would take time to adjust to the light.
”Let there be light,” God said, his first creation. Before the sun or moon, he created light, a blessing for all that was to follow. A blessing given us every day though oftentimes we seem to be unaware of it. Anyone who has been cut off from light or, like those miners, trapped in a dark place, will know the deep hunger that rises within for this most taken-for-granted gift.
”You are the light of the world,” Jesus tells us (Matt 5:14), a light that is a blessing, helping others to see, healing their wounds. A light that uplifts and brings joy, stirs up hope, encourages goodness. ”Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart” (Ps 97).
Jesus himself of course, is the true light. He is ”the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (Prologue, St John).
Darkness will never get the upper hand though many times it seems to quench the light. Have we not sometimes felt that all is lost, our hearts quaking with fear and dread, our life a bleak canvas stretched out before us? But this is the very time to say with faith and courage, even if it be only a thimble-full, ”Though I walk in the valley of darkness I fear no evil for you are with me” (Ps 23). Because there is nowhere God’s light does not shine. It enlightens everyone (Jn 1:9).
But, as Jesus pointed out, ”Those who do evil hate the light” (Jn 3:19). Their choice is for darkness which they think will hide them. Those who walk in the light spread it and by their lives invite others to join them, to come to the source of this light, Jesus. They know that even people who have deliberately chosen to live in darkness can never extinguish this light.
Many say we are going through dark times now, in the Church, in society, bleak, dream-shattering times. But, like those miners in Chile, we are given a way out of the darkness into the light which can reach into the deepest, darkest cave of the heart.
”Lord, kindle our lamps that we may always shine in your presence and always receive light from you, the Light Perpetual, so that our own darkness may be overcome and the world’s darkness driven from us.” St Columban
Sr Redempta Twomey is the Assistant Editor of the Far East in Ireland.
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