"Whoever Lives the Truth Comes to the Light"

Today's Mass Readings

Salvation is God’s gift in Jesus; but whether to accept or reject God’s offer of salvation remains a choice that every human person must consciously make. This could easily be the theme of today’s readings. Let us reflect on this theme reading by reading. The gospel reading begins with one of the most well known verses in the entire Bible; “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). In these words the gospel makes known God’s purpose. Yes, God wills that each human person be saved. For this he sent his Son. However, salvation is also the consequence of a conscious human choice. There are those who believe and those who do not. John uses the light/darkness contrast to differentiate between the two.

This contrast is more vividly described the first reading. The news of the resurrection of Jesus continues to be the cause of division. It emboldened the believers to proclaim the message of salvation, but it also emboldened the non-believers to persecute the believers. God’s salvation remains open to all; however, there were those who chose to believe and those who did not. We would imagine that a miracle such as the one reported in Acts 5:17-26 would open the eyes of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The only explanation for their stance is that they were making a conscious human decision to disbelieve. In John’s words, “…light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light…” (John 3:9).

Each of us could easily say that by our Baptism and Confirmation we have already made a conscious choice to be in the light. As Catholics it is often not the larger question of choosing Christ or not that is a problematic. It is the small choices that become significant on a daily basis. To be honest and face the consequence or lie and escape an embarrassment, to nurture or abandon resentment, to care or seem not to, to be zealous or mediocre witness of Christ, to love or not to love, to be sensitive to sin or callous are choices we make each day. We must consciously let our daily choices affirm our larger choice of belonging to Christ. To the extent we do this, we belong to the light; to the extent we do not, we choose to live in darkness. Let us allow the light of the risen Lord to illuminate our lives so that His light reaches to the remotest spheres of our lives.