“There is a crack in everything - That's how the light gets in.”

“In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” - St Teresa of Avila

Gospel Text: Jn 12:44-50
Jesus cried out and said,
"Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
So what I say, I say as the Father told me."

As a child, I was afraid of the dark. I would often find myself running to my parent’s room at night in fear. In the dark I couldn’t see what was coming, I couldn’t see what was around me. Even if I knew during the day that monsters weren’t in my closet or under my bed, when it got dark I became scared of what I couldn’t see anymore – I couldn’t convince myself that those monsters weren’t there. But, like many kids, I soon got a night light for my room. With the light I could see everything in my room; I could see that there was nothing to be scared of. In the dark we can convince ourselves that a closet is filled with monsters. Yet with the light we can see the truth.

Without Jesus we too are in the dark. We feel alone and don’t know what’s around us or what’s coming. With darkness comes fear since there’s no knowledge of what is going on. In the dark we stumble because without light it is hard to get around – we can’t see our way. We become imprisoned: without light we can’t do the things we normally do. Yet Jesus came and lit up our world. With his light he gave us the ability to see everything as it truly is. Jesus’ light leads to understanding and enlightenment. It leads to hope, direction and truth.

But how do we turn on the light? Sometimes instead of turning on the lights we use a flashlight or a candle – it may seem easier that way because we can see only what we want to see. But we can’t do this; we can’t choose to only let Christ into the little parts of our lives – we have to let him in fully. We have to have the courage to turn on the lights and see everything – even the things that may make it harder for us to continue the lives we led in the dark. But with this light comes hope and truth. With this light comes guidance and love. With this light comes an incredible life filled with Christ that we couldn’t have in the dark.

And the nicest thing is that we aren’t forced to live in the dark – we have the ability to turn on the light whenever we want to! All we have to do is ask Jesus into our lives and we will see the light of the world. We will see things that we haven’t been able to see in the darkness; we will no longer stumble, we will no longer fear the unknown and we will finally see the light of Christ. So if today we find ourselves to be stumbling, maybe all we have to do is to remember to turn on the lights.