Last year I visited Buffalo, a city located just on the border of US and Canada. It used to be one of the biggest and fastest growing cities in US. Some years ago the industry businesses moved overseas to reduce the cost of production. The impact of the move affected the area. Lack of jobs forced lots of people to move out. One day I walked to the CBD. The streets I was walking were very quiet but because it was chilly I simply thought that the people were indoors. When I was coming back it was dark and I started feeling very uncomfortable as there was no light in the houses. They were abandoned. Believe me that’s a very eerie and frightening experience. No light meant no human presence.
My Sisters and Brothers in faith!
Our Blessed Lord speaks to us today: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.” Very often when you visit old places, for example in Europe, you hear that the castles were built on the mountains because they were secure up there. It was difficult to capture them. However what Jesus speaks about in the Gospel is different. He refers to the cities built on the hill-tops not for security purposes but to be orientation points for travellers, especially for those making their way through wilderness. If they got lost the night wouldn’t be a terrifying time but the environment exposing the city lights, and showing the way.
As followers of Christ, as his Church we are called not to separate ourselves from the world, but as Jesus said: “Your light must shine in the sight of men.” In the Gospel of St John there is a sentence describing the mission of St John the Baptist: “He came as the witness to speak for the light.” John wasn’t the light. Jesus is the light. John was speaking for the light by his way of the living. People looking him saw God saw clearly that some thought that John was God. That how the Baptist was transformed by the Word of God. His way of life spoke about God.
God the Father has given the world the Sun to produce light during the daytime and the moon to reflect the light of the Sun at night. The physical world needs the light of the Sun as without light the life would cease on earth. But we humans need more than the brightness of the Sun because we have more than physicality. We have souls. That’s why God the Father has given us his Son Jesus Christ, the light of the human world. His light reaches deeper than the surface of our skin. It reaches the depth of our being, our soul, with its power of healing.
If the amount of sunshine were the reason for full happiness, here in Australia we shouldn’t have any depressions, suicides, broken marriages, but as we know we do have these things. We can say that this sunny continent keeps reminding the rest of the planet that the light of the Sun is insufficient for humans. We need Jesus Christ, the light of the world, because only his light can keep our soul alive and growing.
If you feel sometimes that being a Christian seems to be old-fashioned and not appreciated, read the Gospel Passage from St Matthew about the city built on the hill-top to be easily seen by all. Nobody is a Christian for himself or herself but to be Christ’s light-bearer. Like there is no day without night there is no human being without periods of darkness. Those periods aren’t pleasant, for sure, but they aren’t a tragedy, they are part of our story, a tragedy would be if there were no Christian dispelling the darkness of the situation with the light of the Messiah by their faith being shown in their way of life.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.”
My Sisters and Brothers in faith!
Our Blessed Lord speaks to us today: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.” Very often when you visit old places, for example in Europe, you hear that the castles were built on the mountains because they were secure up there. It was difficult to capture them. However what Jesus speaks about in the Gospel is different. He refers to the cities built on the hill-tops not for security purposes but to be orientation points for travellers, especially for those making their way through wilderness. If they got lost the night wouldn’t be a terrifying time but the environment exposing the city lights, and showing the way.
As followers of Christ, as his Church we are called not to separate ourselves from the world, but as Jesus said: “Your light must shine in the sight of men.” In the Gospel of St John there is a sentence describing the mission of St John the Baptist: “He came as the witness to speak for the light.” John wasn’t the light. Jesus is the light. John was speaking for the light by his way of the living. People looking him saw God saw clearly that some thought that John was God. That how the Baptist was transformed by the Word of God. His way of life spoke about God.
God the Father has given the world the Sun to produce light during the daytime and the moon to reflect the light of the Sun at night. The physical world needs the light of the Sun as without light the life would cease on earth. But we humans need more than the brightness of the Sun because we have more than physicality. We have souls. That’s why God the Father has given us his Son Jesus Christ, the light of the human world. His light reaches deeper than the surface of our skin. It reaches the depth of our being, our soul, with its power of healing.
If the amount of sunshine were the reason for full happiness, here in Australia we shouldn’t have any depressions, suicides, broken marriages, but as we know we do have these things. We can say that this sunny continent keeps reminding the rest of the planet that the light of the Sun is insufficient for humans. We need Jesus Christ, the light of the world, because only his light can keep our soul alive and growing.
If you feel sometimes that being a Christian seems to be old-fashioned and not appreciated, read the Gospel Passage from St Matthew about the city built on the hill-top to be easily seen by all. Nobody is a Christian for himself or herself but to be Christ’s light-bearer. Like there is no day without night there is no human being without periods of darkness. Those periods aren’t pleasant, for sure, but they aren’t a tragedy, they are part of our story, a tragedy would be if there were no Christian dispelling the darkness of the situation with the light of the Messiah by their faith being shown in their way of life.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.”
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