What darkness covers your real beauty? Allow your beauty to shine forth!

VENTURE INTO THE LIGHT

In this Sunday’s Second Reading, St. Paul wrote that when we were in sin, we were like blind men living in the dark. But when Christ came and called us to conversion, we were able to see anew. St. Paul would continue that in Christ, “We are children of the light. There was a time when you were in darkness, but now you are the light in the Lord. Well then, live as children of light” ( Ephesians 5:8 ). Paul here is admonishing the people of Ephesus to remain in the light of Christ and not regress into the darkness of sin.

       In the Gospel, after having been given the gift of sight, the man born blind progressed in his knowledge and faith in Jesus. Ironically, the people in the temple, supposedly people who had received the light of faith, ridiculed the man and put no faith in the person of Jesus. They have regressed into the darkness of unbelief. They have sight, but could not see.

       I’m sure all of us here have had an experience of living in the darkness of sin. But we were converted to the Lord and we lived in the light. Unfortunately, we often go back into the dark, like the darkness of past hurts. I remember a woman who spoke of a hurt a loved one had inflicted on her — 20 years ago — as if it had happened only yesterday. When we refuse to forgive the hurts of the past, we will continue to live in darkness.

       We all have our favorite sins. We confess the same sins over and over again. Sometimes I would tell people in the confessional, “Do you promise that you will do your best to turn away from these sins?” They would say, “Yes, Father, but not this one or that one.” If we continue to hold on to some of our favorite sins, we will continue to live in darkness.

       Elizabeth Kubler-Ross said, “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”

       Today, we ask the Lord to help us out of the dark because by ourselves we cannot do it. Remember what Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Let us have faith in Jesus. Fr. Joel Jason

REFLECTION QUESTION: What darkness covers your real beauty? Allow your beauty to shine forth!

Dearest Lord, help me to cling to Your light. Help me to get out of the darkness that I am in.