The light in our darkness

Gospel Reflection 

At that time,

John summoned two of his disciples
and sent them to the Lord to ask,

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

When the men came to the Lord, they said,

“John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,

‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”

At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits;

he also granted sight to many who were blind.

And Jesus said to them in reply,

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:

the blind regain their sight,

the lame walk,

lepers are cleansed,

the deaf hear, the dead are raised,

the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.

And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

Luke 7:18b-23

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. John of the Cross, a Carmelite priest and Doctor of the Church.

In John of the Cross we learn the path of the cross, how we should choose the cross and how the cross that we carry would lead us to a much stronger faith and would bring us to the salvation, the peace of Christ.

To deny our desires and instead to choose a simpler way of life and to choose others over ourselves, especially when it comes to our own needs, and most especially with our wants. This is what it means to carry our cross.

For John of the Cross, the dark nights of our life is not a burden to carry, but a way for God to teach us to embrace a life that truly reflects our love for God and for our others.

That is what we heard, as well, in our Gospel reading today, from the Gospel of Luke, which is also what we heard in last Sunday's Gospel reading from Matthew.

John was asking if Christ is the Messiah promised by God through the prophets.

In the darkest moments of our life, we cannot help but desire to feel God's presence. We would look for that light, which seemingly is flickering, about to fade away, weak, becoming dark.

That is what John the Baptist was experiencing at that moment.

John the Baptist at this time was in prison for being zealous in criticizing the wrong done by the people, and most especially the leaders of his time. Herod, the ruler of Galilee, was not exempt from John's criticism, most especially since he married the wife of his brother, Herodias. Herodias who was eaten up by her fierce ambitions to be the first lady of their kingdom. And here, John the Baptist was calling for them to repent of their scandalous relationship.

John was in the darkest moment of his life because he knows that his end was nearing, because he knows that Herodias was so angry with him that she would do everything to eliminate him, to kill him. And with his death, what weight did his life bear. Was his sacrifice all worth it?

John was in so much darkness and he needed light. He needed the assurance that what he was doing all his life, that all his sacrifices, the life that he chose to embrace did matter and contributed in God's plan of saving humanity.

Like the Jews of that time, John was also looking forward to a powerful political-warrior messiah who would bring down the powers that was burdening their people. But Jesus was teaching about love, and loving their enemies, at that; he was teaching about forgiveness, humility, of becoming peacemakers.

Is this for real? John the Baptist must have asked, and Jesus answered by quoting a passage from Isaiah (35:5-6): the blind would see, the cripple could walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf could hear, the dead shall rise, and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.

Jesus Christ is the light at the end of the very dark tunnel that we are in at the moment, and in the middle of our crisis in faith, in the middle of our difficulties, of the burden that we are carrying, let us remember that Christ Jesus truly did rise again from the dead and rose to heaven. His promise of salvation and peace to all of humanity is real. 

Believe and trust in God's promise by embracing the cross that you are carrying, just like John of the Cross. Let us allow ourselves to carry the cross and the darkness that has engulfed us at this time will prepare us for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by removing our desires, our worldly wants, and for us to accept the blessing from Christ who is the light in our darkness. 

Image: Valentin Jorel on Unsplash