I don’t know about you, but whenever I walk into a room with a mirror these days, my first inclination is to reach for the dimmer switch—and dial it lower. Privately, I tell myself, “less light will be better for your eyes” and proceed to mimic that “clap on, clap off” commercial. For bright lights and mirrors reveal way too much: wrinkles, imperfections, and what’s left of my hair that grows grayer by the day. Quickly, however, the Spirit leads me to the Book of Ecclesiastes (1:2): “Vanity of vanity, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities. All is vanity.”
A now deceased economics professor once told me a story of standing before students one evening and teaching material that he had taught for several decades. With great suddenness, however, he stopped in his tracks. As he paused to look at what he had drawn on the whiteboard, he noted that his students must have thought he was experiencing a medical emergency. But eventually, he emerged and told his students: “I’ve been drawing and studying these lines and curves for years, but only now have I come to understand what they mean.”
That evening, for this professor, a light had been turned on. And he was grateful and surprised that it finally—was!
Some of you may be familiar with The Christophers. If you are not, it is a religious organization that was founded in 1945 by Father James Keller, a Maryknoll priest, who was convinced of the profound ability of each person to shape the future. In particular, he believed that God has given each of us a special task in life that belongs to no one else. Over the years and to this day, The Christophers have retained their catchy slogan, one that is difficult to forget: “It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”
For we Christians, Jesus is that light. Jesus is our redeemer. Jesus is our salvation. And His light always wins out over darkness.
In the readings for this 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, this is exactly what is happening. God’s light and love are being revealed. In the Book of Deuteronomy (4:1-2, 6-8), God had given Moses the statutes and decrees that His people were to live by. For his part, Moses was passing them along with a warning; namely, that they were to not add or subtract from them.
In fast forwarding to the Gospel of Mark (7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23), however, the Pharisees and Scribes, descendants of Moses, surround Jesus and His disciples. By their many observations of impurities and uncleanliness, they are like health inspectors of our day entering a restaurant with a list of requirements needing to be checked off. And so, it is obvious they had not heeded Moses’ warning of becoming weighed down by statutes-upon-statutes and decrees-upon-decrees.
With their inability to see east-from-west or up-from-down, Jesus called them out by reminding them of words spoken by the prophet Isaiah that their religious practice had become head-strong rather than heart-strong.
In the second reading, St. James (1:17-18, 21-22, 27) nails it when he says that “we should welcome God’s word that has been planted in us and able to save our souls.”
It is though St. James is telling us to be not afraid to turn the lights on, look into the mirror, and receive God’s message:
Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
For we Christians, it is important to remember that, at baptism, God’s Law is born within us, and, by grace, we are born anew in Christ. And as Christians who uphold the Commandments, Jesus tells us of the greatest commandment that provides us with our life’s mission; namely, that our love of God is revealed by our love of neighbor.
And God’s light, God’s love, that dwells within each of us, is meant to be shared with others.
In St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (12:20), the Apostle reminds us that “…there are many parts, yet one body.” And in his Letter to the Romans (10:15), “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.”
So, our work should be His work.
The saints amplify this message, but only after their conversion and a change of course do they begin to proclaim the light of Christ to others and do His work.
Two of my favorite saints lived four centuries apart, in the 16th and 20th centuries…
For St. Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish soldier, it took a cannonball hit and year-long convalescence for him to see his new way in life. Today, his religious order, the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) spans the globe and educates the minds and hearts of thousands of students. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam— “all for the greater glory of God.”
For St. Katharine Drexel, it was not a cannonball hit, but rather a papal suggestion that transported her where she needed to be. Katharine, a young, devout Catholic from a wealthy Philadelphia family had concerns about the Church’s ministry to native Americans and people of color. After asking two priests to “do something about this,” they arranged for Katharine to meet with Pope Leo XIII where she asked him to do the same. After pausing, however, Pope Leo told Katharine that perhaps she should be the one to “do something.” Following her audience with the Holy Father, Katharine remembered having a lump in her throat. Upon returning to Philadelphia, she entered a convent and ultimately received permission to begin a new order of sisters, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and “did something.” Upon her death, in 1955, Mother Drexel had given away all her earthly treasures, in today’s dollars, approximately a half a billion!
But what about you and me? Well, we also are called to be saints in our families and parishes and places of work. There, we are called to be saints and shine Jesus’ light and love on those we meet.
There is a song that we regularly sing at Mass. I won’t sing it, but it goes like this: “We are the light of the world, let our light shine before all. That they may see the good that we do and give glory to God.”
