Trust in His light
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).
Why is it so easy to look around and become discouraged? Why are there so many problems in my family, my community, my church, my world? Why does still so much darkness remain in myself? Why have I not overcome the darkness? This small passage from John’s Gospel offers us answers.
John is speaking about the creation of humanity and also about man today. Life itself belongs to God. Thus, the life of humanity, of creation, flows from the very life of God. Its source is in God.
Particularly in human beings, however, this life is a light. It is a light that guides man through life. It draws him towards goodness, truth, and the beautiful things of Earth. It also serves as a guiding principle that informs him of what is good and what is evil. What should he do? What should he not do?
This very light is what allows him to perceive the good, but it also is the very reason he is able to perceive that the darkness around him is, in fact, dark. Without this light, darkness would seem normal.
Thus John’s answer to the discouragement caused by darkness is firstly, be grateful and filled with hope. Be grateful for the light inside of you that can both notice darkness for what it is, and hope, strive for, and pray that your light grows brighter to eliminate it.
John also illumines us to a second reality that instills hope. The light is in fact shining!
While darkness often seems more apparent, we do see many lights. We see them in ourselves, in our few virtues. We see them in various places in community, in our families. We see many lights in our churches. Many forces for good are radiating around us drawing us towards peace and a deep sense of joy.
As St. Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.” We rejoice always because there is in fact light. It is present and it is strong, not primarily because of us, but because this light is the life of God in us.
Finally, John encourages us. He does this not with a wish or hope for future, but with a present reality. The darkness has in fact not overcome the light. Many sources of darkness have tried again and again to overcome this light. Early civilizations tried to stomp out Christianity by martyring its members, unaware that this would only make the light stronger. Our world has faced everything from natural disasters to heinous crimes on a massive scale, particularly in the last century. The light remains.
There are still good people. There are still faithful and saintly followers of Jesus Christ. And the Church remains.
During this Advent season, let our candle wreaths remind us that the lights will not go out. The darkness will not prevail in the end. And most especially, let us take great confidence that even if our own lights seem dim, the True Light Himself is coming on Christmas day: to offer us His own brightness, His own joy, His own life.
Father Brett Metzler serves as Chaplain at Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth and as the Vocations Director for the diocese. Find his regular columns for the North Texas Catholic here