Monday after
Epiphany
(I John3:22-4:6; Matthew 4:12-17.23-25)
A great corporation of an American city every year sponsors
a festival of lights during the Christmas holidays. It invites the public to its production
center adorned with colored LED lights. The
lights do not dispel the darkness as much as they take advantage of it. Because of the darkness, the brilliance of scores
of thousands of lights is revealed. In a
similar way the darkness of the human condition allows the light of Jesus to be
manifested.
Today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew sees Isaiah’s
prophecy of a great light in Galilee fulfilled in Jesus. His ministry enkindles hope in people beset
with misery. The passage shows Jesus healing
the pained, relieving the possessed, comforting the disturbed, and capacitating
the paralyzed. Jesus’ preaching further urges
those ensconced in the darkness of sin to repent. Finding the gentle glow of God’s mercy gives
them freedom and joy.
We have begun a new year.
It is time for us to start over in the quest for virtue. We must rid ourselves of thoughts that belittle
others. We need to let go of our fears
so that we might affirm those around us.
