Light in the Darkness: Reflections on the Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

If you haven’t already read the readings you can find them here.

Isaiah 58:7-10
Psalm 112
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Matthew 5:13-16

Light continues to be the focus in the readings as we get closer and closer to Lent. In the gospel acclamation from John, Jesus declares His connection with the Light: “I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Today we learn more about the Light of the World and the part Jesus expects us to play in that mission.

Isaiah spoke often about the light that shines in the darkness, especially when alluding to the Messiah. Today’s selection is no different. Note that he talks to us, the new Israel, when he says, “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn.” Thus we also inherit Isaiah’s declaration that we are to be “a light to the nations,” (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6), just like Jesus reference to the light coming from the city on the hill in today’s gospel. But this takes some doing on our part.

“A light to the nations refers to God’s plan that His Servant (the Messiah) would “draw both the disgraced people of Israel and the unenlightened nations into the family of God.” (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, note for Isaiah 42:6; cf. note for Isaiah 49:6.)

If we read a little beyond (both before and after today’s selection) we get a better understanding of what this takes. As is appropriate for the forthcoming season of Lent the title given to this section of Isaiah is “Authentic fasting that leads to blessing.” And in the next section of Isaiah we learn of another path to blessing, “If you call ... the LORD’s holy day glorious; If you glorify it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs,” then you will also obtain blessing.

The gospel reading parallels this advice as it comes again from the Sermon on the Mount, from which last week’s readings on the Beatitudes came. Isaiah says many things similar to Jesus’ teaching: “share your bread with the hungry, ... clothe the naked, ... shelter the homeless.” It is then that the glory of the Lord shall shine forth in you and “then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.”

The responsorial psalm continues this theme of becoming righteous (just) for “The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.” Again we read that the just person cares for others; gracious, gives to the poor, and “conducts his affairs with justice.” He will trust in the Lord and not fear evil slander. Thus his light shall shine in the darkness.

The selection from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians begins with a demonstration of Paul’s humility. “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling.” Again Paul demonstrates that our faith must rest in the power of God. As he stated earlier in this letter, we should not rely on human wisdom. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25) Again he emphasizes the importance of knowing the crucified Christ whose message of the cross is “foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

The gospel reading takes this one step further. We are told that we, the followers of Jesus, are the salt of the earth and, like Jesus, the light of the world. Like the light that Jesus brings into the world, our “light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."

The notes for this section (New American Bible, Revised Edition – NABRE) state, “By their deeds the disciples are to influence the world for good. They can no more escape notice than a city set on a mountain. If they fail in good works, they are as useless as flavorless salt or as a lamp whose light is concealed.”

This message is reiterated elsewhere in Matthew (as well as the other gospels). For example, in Matthew 25 we read about the “Judgment of the Nations.” Similar to the lesson from Isaiah today we read Jesus’ teaching about the need to care for others, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” Jesus tells us there are consequences for not caring for others, “And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (sometimes referred to as the lesson of the Sheep and the Goats; Matthew 25:31-46) The lesson is that we witness to our faith in Jesus by the way we live our lives.

In today’s world, the Church’s role is to bring Jesus’ light into the world. As members of the Church and followers of Jesus, that responsibility falls to us as well. We sometimes tend to leave the evangelization to the clergy; priests, deacons, religious. But we have that responsibility as well. We are the “apostolate of the laity.”

The Vatican II document on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem (AA, 2), notes “The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ.” Although promulgated sixty years ago, this document retains its relevance in today’s world, and, due to the current secular influence on the Church, perhaps even more than it did back then. C.S. Lewis in his classic Mere Christianity, had similar words, “…[T]he Church exists for nothing else but to draw man into Christ, to make them little Christs.”

 AA further explains, “Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.” Our role in our parishes is essential to the success of each parish to fulfill its evangelistic mission.

For some reason there appears to be very little emphasis on our status and duties as part of this Apostolate, but it is spelled out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 900): “Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it.”

Similarly, Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, drawing from today’s readings, tells us “The lay apostolate, however, is a participation in the salvific mission of the Church itself. Through their baptism and confirmation all are commissioned to that apostolate by the Lord Himself. Now the laity are called in a special way to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them can it become the salt of the earth.” (LG 33)

Reflect on these readings and look at yourself, your spiritual progress, and your activities within your parish and the Church in general. With Lent imminent, you may be able to take a more active role as a member of this important apostolate, alluded to often by Jesus.