The Fourth Sunday of Lent
Colton Gardner
The Light of Christ
By Sister Phoebe
You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
–Ephesians 5:8
(today’s second reading)
It was the light of Christ that first attracted me to religious life. I was in fourth grade. My teacher, a Sister of St. Joseph, was taking the class on a tour of the convent attached to our school. When we walked into their baby-blue chapel, my eyes were drawn to the small red lamp flickering in the corner. I knew that it meant Jesus was here. And I concluded that if nuns get to live with Jesus, then I wanted to be a nun too, because I needed to be as close to that light as possible.
Years later, after my life had gone a different direction, I walked into an empty church ready to rail against God. I was angry, disappointed, and full of darkness, much like the dim and dusty building around me. But then my eyes were drawn to the small red lamp flickering in the corner. I knew that it meant Jesus was here. And I concluded that if this empty church was not so empty, then perhaps the darkness was not so dark. Christ’s unconditional presence in the Eucharist was the light that dispelled my blindness, much as he did for the man in today’s Gospel. I discovered a deep desire in my heart: to be for others who Christ was for me in that moment. To be light, as He is light.
This is not my story alone. At Baptism, the baptismal candle is lit from the Paschal candle, and a powerful prayer is spoken: “Receive the Light of Christ. […] This light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly.” We are called first to “receive,” and then to transmit (“keep burning brightly”). Because Christ said, “I am the light of the world,” we whom he has made his own can live out his marvelous declaration: “You are the light of the world.” He wants to enlighten us through prayer and sacrament, through Word and Eucharist; and then he wants to enlighten the world through our radiance within it.
In just a few short weeks, the lit Paschal candle will be brought into the darkness of our churches. The deacon will sing out, “The Light of Christ!” And we will respond in joy, “Thanks be to God!” My prayer for you is that you can repeat those words when you behold your spouse, or your child, or your difficult co-worker, or your homeless neighbor, or your own reflection. Now you are light. Thanks be to God.
Sr. Catherine Lucia Phoebe Addington, FSP is a religious sister with the Daughters of St. Paul, a congregation dedicated to communicating Christ through the media. She is a writer, poet, translator, quilter, and crafter currently stationed in Alexandria, Virginia.
I am Colton, an artist who works primarily in watercolors and inks. I use my skill to promote the words of God and the Saints.