WHAT MARVELS THE LORD WORKED FOR US

WHAT MARVELS THE LORD WORKED FOR US

(MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
The Memorial of St. Pio)

In the Book of Ezra, Cyrus, the king of Persia had proclaimed that the Israelites are to be allowed to return to their homeland to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. The people of Persia were commanded: “Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place they have lived, be assisted by the people of that place with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, together with free-will offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

In the gospel of today, Jesus is urging us to be generous with our gifts, our light. If we live in the light, we will grow more. If we hide our light, our inspiration, we will wither and lose our way. In Jesus’ parable of a lamp set out to give light so that all can see, He is talking about the importance of hearing God’s word and living it. It is not enough to read and agree that we are to “…love our neighbour as oneself.” We need to respond to the meaning of the sacred word of God…to make God’s presence real in our midst and our everyday world. Jesus uses the image of light. It is a powerful image of how we are to live our faith. God gives us charisms which have the potential to bring light to the world. Jesus reminds us that we are expected to put our faith into practice and we do this by using our God-given gifts, talents and charisms.

We are the igniters of our lights and they only begin to shine when we answer the call from the community or society in which we live. We grow and discover new gifts throughout our lifetimes.
If we imagine joining our light with the light of others, and the world is flooded with generous, grace-filled goodness, the power is almost incomprehensible. “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather… places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.”
I became a counsellor and practiced for several years working with families, students, couples and individuals. If I did not have the charisms they needed, I knew that people would not come to meet with me.

They came… and God walked with us each step of the way.
If we are not igniting the fire of our light, then our charisms may fade and the light may start to flicker; even be extinguished. Jesus emphasizes this when he says: “To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he/she seems to have will be taken away.”
Do we allow people to see and experience our light? Our Christian vocation demands that we let our light shine so that from us and through our light, people will find a reason to come closer to God.

Let Us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me to shine out as the light always and may your grace be abundant for me in season and out of season. Amen.