Embracing the Light: Call to Proclaim God's Love
April 10, 2024 - Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
Acts 5:17-26; Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Jn 3:16-21
In April 1999, amidst the tumultuous period leading up to East Timor's independence referendum, together with one priest, I journeyed from Kupang to Bobonaro, navigating through pro-Indonesian militia checkpoints. We were travelling at night to evade scrutiny, knowing that as priests we were particularly in danger because they knew that the Catholic Church, particularly priests, stood with the people, urging them to vote freely. As we approached a group of intoxicated and aggressive militiamen, who blocked our way, surrounded our car, and began to ask questions about our nationality, identity, and purpose of our journey.
Today, the first reading and the psalm are connected by the presence of God's angel in the lives of Christ's disciples and the psalmist. The psalmist declares that "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them" (Ps 34:8). Saint Luke narrates for us how the disciples of Jesus were set free from the prison by the intervention of the Lord's angel. Moreover, the angel orders them to continue proclaiming the Gospel: "Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life" (Acts 5:20). On that very night in East Timor, we were also set free from those militia men and were able to continue our mission there.
If there is one sentence that sums up the message of the Gospel, it is one that we hear today: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). And yet, this message about God's love is often rejected by the world. The high priest, his companions, and the party of the Sadducees tried to intimidate the disciples, so they would stop preaching the Gospel. Jesus was handed over to the world and the world crucified Him. The Church continues to proclaim the message of God's love for the world revealed in Jesus Christ, and the world ignores it, rejects it, and tries to silence it. Why?
The Gospel of John gives us this unsettling answer: "People preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil" (John 3:19). Saint Augustine explains this paradox in this way. People "love the truth for the light it sheds, but hate it when it shows them up as being wrong". That is what we hear in today's Gospel: "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed" (John 3:20). But remaining in darkness is not an option. We can only live and thrive in the light. And so all of us who have been freed from the power of darkness are called to go and proclaim the Good News about God's love for the world.
Martin Luther King said: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." The Liturgy of the Word calls us to shine the light of truth in a world that often prefers darkness. Moreover, it assures us of divine protection. Let us take courage in the knowledge that we are encamped by God's angel, protected and guided as we strive to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ - the Light of the world and the revelation of God's love - into the world.