[ Today's Readings ]
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
This is the light which dawns on the world at Christmas. Jesus himself is the bright morning star (cf. Revelation 22:16). He himself is the radiance of God's glory, the exact expression of his nature (cf. Hebrews 1:3).
We are called to be the light of the world (cf. Matthew 5:14). But there are many risks which might prevent us from living this out. Our light must find its source in his light (cf. Ephesians 5:14). We must walk with the light he gives us if we want to shine ourselves (cf. John 12:35). When we have his light in us it is still possible for us to hide it. We must instead let it shine.
None of us do this perfectly. We don't always come to Jesus to be filled with light. We squander the light he does give us.
If we say, “We are without sin,”
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
It is possible to see the light of the star and still to massacre the children just as Herod does. Many in society are dimly aware of the star that shines above the manager and yet enshrine the right to abortion. Yet even those of us who condemn abortion are still sometimes complicit in the very same darkness. Our materialism, our pride, and our lack of love and compassion stem from the same evil source. And when we are in the darkness in this way we help to build a culture of death rather than life.
That point is not that we are as guilty as Herod. But when we realize that the darkness that tries to ensnare us is the very same darkness to which he succumbed grace can help us to revile that darkness, to be repulsed by it, and to gain some freedom from sin. Freedom is free, in this case, if we just want it.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.
Without grace all is darkness. On our own strength we only resist the sins which don't appeal to us. But the light has dawned and is available to us. We need to receive it so that don't build the culture of death ourselves. We need to shine with it to call out those who do live in that culture. The Holy Innocents who were slain by Herod bear witness to Jesus. In a way, so do all of those slain by abortion. Let us heed their witness and turn from darkness. Let us embrace the light.
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
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