You are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. What a wonderful admonition for our Lenten journey!
You are light in the Lord. St. Paul reminds us that in our baptism, we were united to Christ. The life of Christ flows in us and if we are true to his life within us then his life will shine forth from within us to illuminate our world. This is the challenge of Lent. We have to look honestly at our lives to see what sinful attitudes or behaviors are darkening the light of Christ within us and thus preventing his light from shining forth brightly in our words and in our deeds. Is it prejudice or racism? Is it a tendency to demean others? Is it our own selfishness and self-centeredness? Is it a lack of patience with others? Is it quickness to anger? Is it the inability to forgive others? What is it within us that diminishes the light of Jesus Christ from shining forth from within us in order to illuminate our world – to give healing, hope and love to our world?
Until recently, some students attending public school outside of Houston found lunchtime to be a daily source of humiliation. Students whose parents could not afford a hot lunch had to join another line where they received a cold cheese sandwich and with it the stigma of being poor. When school volunteer Kenny Thompson saw that the students with whom he was working avoided lunch to avoid the embarrassment of being on the ‘poor line’, he paid close to $500 in order to insure that all 66 students who could not buy hot meals regularly could. He then started an organization to create a reserve fund in order to insure that no student would be denied a hot meal. Finally, the school district changed its policies so that every student received the same meal regardless of their ability to pay. Kenny was a real light of hope and change for the students in this Houston school district.
What are you doing to be the light of Christ you are called to be? How is the light of Christ within you shining forth more brightly this Lenten season?