Toward the light

By: Fr. Jerry M. Orbos SVD

The story is told about a judge who asked a defendant: “Where will you go if you tell a lie?” The defendant said: “To hell, your Honor.” Then the judge asked: “And where will you go if you tell the truth?” To which the defendant replied: “To jail, your Honor.”

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In today’s Gospel (Jn. 1, 6-8, 19-28), we hear of John the Baptist who told the truth and testified to the Light. He did not pretend to be somebody else: “I am not the Messiah.” He was honest about who he was, and he was clear about his role and mission in life.

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Problems arise when a person becomes dishonest about himself/herself, and when he/she does not become true to his/her calling. Look at history, and see how many dishonest people have hurt so many and caused so much havoc in people’s lives because of their dishonesty, unfaithfulness and deceit. We don’t need to look far. We only need to look at current events and people around us. In fact, we need only to look at ourselves.

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In baptism, the parents and godparents are given the lighted candles to remind them of their duty to pass on the light of faith to the children. The lighted candles are also a reminder for them to become shining examples to the children. With Christmas coming and with our traditional gift-giving to the children, let us also reflect on our light-giving mission unto them.

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If you want to know what it means to testify to the Light, go back and remember the usher/usherette who meets you in a dark movie house and with his/her flashlight, leads you the way, and points you to your seat, so that you can watch and enjoy the movie. Take note: the usher/usherette does not point the flashlight to himself/herself.

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Nobody stays in the limelight forever. the sooner we learn this lesson in life, the better. The other lesson we need to learn is our willingness to just fade away. People who learn these lessons will not need to be dragged away, or to be forced to exit in a shameful way.