The book of Acts is showing us today the beginning of missions in the Church. The day of Pentecost there was an urban mission in the city of Jerusalem. But the novelty here is that the Church is now the one who sent missionaries to several parts of the world to preach the Gospel and baptize people in the name of Jesus Christ. They went to preach about Jesus, the Son of God, the Risen Lord. This Jesus of Nazareth who introduced himself as the good Shepherd, the way, the life, and the truth. And today he also says in the Gospel that he is the “light, so that everyone who believes in him might not remain in darkness.”
What does it mean that he is the ‘light’? We could understand this from two perspectives: one is passive and the other is active. The light allows us to see what is
…show more content…
He is the light from the passive perspective because he is the great option against the idolatry that exists in the world, against the gods who call us to follow them, and many other ways we could get lost. With his presence, he shows us a direction, a different way that we can accept or reject. And sadly we see how many people in the world reject the way of Jesus Christ and prefer to go through ways of danger, death, and personal destruction. It’s the way of sin. However, Christ is also light from the active perspective. His presence casts out darkness. Psalm 68 says that when God arises, his enemies are scattered. This can be applied to Jesus. Christ arises his divine lamp in the human heart so that darkness must be scattered. This is not just a choice that comes from our will, but it’s a power that comes from Christ and makes that our life be transformed in a new one. So when we ask the Lord to illumine us we are telling him: “Show me your ways,” but we are also telling him: “Take darkness away from my life.” So this light changes the way we see everything because our eyes are transformed and we come to see everyone and everything with the clarity of