2013-12-25 Daniel Daring 2013 articles 2012 articles
Christmas
Day:
Darkness
cannot overcome the light
Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrew 1:1-6; John 1:1-18
He was left alone in the bus station. It was winter time; the sun had set two hours ago. He had to walk ten kilometres to the main road in order to get another bus home. Yet he was scared. He was just eleven. He had to walk through a forest, alone in the night.
The Gospel of John proclaims that the Word has come into this world. “In him
was life, and that life was the light of people. The light shines in the
darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). The message of
the Gospel has something to tell us about the condition of our world. Despite
all technological and scientific achievements, we walk in darkness and live in
the shadow of death. “Darkness is associated with blindness, night, sleep,
cold, gloom, despair, lostness, chaos, death, danger, and yearning for the
dawn” (Marcus Borg). Malaria and Aids are plaguing the nations of Africa and
Asia. Global warming and technological wastes are devastating the Islands of the
Pacific and poisoning our environment. Unfair global trade is making the already
rich, richer and the poor, poorer. Yet many of us tend to keep our eyes closed
to those problems. Others allow despair to paralyse their wills and energy.
“Only when we cut the last tree and catch the last fish, we will realize that
money cannot be eaten,” is the saying of the natives of Tonga.
Yet, in the darkness the light
begins to shine. God enters the human story bringing life and light. “Light is
associated with relief and rejoicing that the night is over; in the light one is
safe and warm. In the light there is life” (Marcus Borg). “The people
walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the
shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). In the person of Jesus, the
light has entered the world, the light which enlightens everyone who believes.
The angels announced his birth to the shepherds in the middle of the night. The
star guided the wise men of the East to the place of his birth. His birth has
marked the beginning of something new. “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and
thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory
appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness
of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3). Jesus is the light of the world. We are not
left alone in the coldness of the Universe. We are not left powerless in front
of the forces of darkness. Jesus walks with us enlightening our paths and giving
us courage to stand for truth.
Fr. Masiano is a parish priest in
Tonga. He has established an ecological committee to protect the Pacific Islands
from disappearing under the rising levels of the sea and the garbage wastes. The
committee tries to make their own people aware that they have to make their
voices heard if they want to see their children and grandchildren living on
these Islands. That is just an example of a small light that begins to shine in
the darkness that tries to overshadow the Pacific Islands. There are many more
examples that testify to the words of the Gospel: “the light shines in the
darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
Who is our Lord?
The Gospel of John witnesses to a
sad truth present in the world: Very few are able to recognize and receive
Jesus, as Lord. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through
him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his
own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in
his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:10-12).
Any statistician can tell us that we
are the 'biggest' religion in the world, yet it cannot tell us about the quality
of lives of Christians. In the midst of Christian nations two World Wars and the
shame of the Holocaust took place. Christian nations have contributed through
greed to the impoverishment of our earth. And our churches are not doing any
better. They are entangled with power and money. Their message is dull and
boring. Their proclamation has very little to offer beyond “doctrinalism”
and “traditionalism.” We continue to recite our Creed on Sundays, but our
weekdays reveal different sets of beliefs influencing our lives.
Musha was a religious sister. She
worked with the Dalits, the lowest caste among the people of India. There was a
drought in the village and the wells used by the Dalits dried up. Yet they were
not allowed to take water from other places, because it was against the caste
system. Musha decided to help them. Every day at 10 pm she was watering the
plants in the garden of her convent and she left the water running, informing
the Dalits about it. They came filled with gratitude. The hidden help lasted for
a week, till the people of the high caste of the village learned about it. Musha
was guilty of breaking the caste system. She was refused Holy Communion during
the Eucharistic celebration for a week and the Dalits had to wait for God’s
mercy that would bring the needed rain.
Where do we seek our security? Is it
in power, system, institution, money, and so on? The names ‘Christmas’ and
‘Christianity’ come from the same root: Christ. It means the anointed one.
Jesus is the Anointed One of God, the Messiah. When the angel was announcing the
birth of Jesus, s/he said: “I bring you good news of great joy for all the
people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the
Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). To believe in the angle's proclamation means
to accept that only Jesus can be the Christ and the Lord of our lives. To place
our security in power, system, institution or money is to betray Jesus. Yet we
know our hearts. We know how easily we fall into temptation of substituting the
Lordship of Jesus for something or someone else.
Conclusion
He was walking alone in the cold of
the night. There seems to be a monster behind every tree. Two hours of walking
and he was just half way. He was cold and tired. He began to cry. Suddenly,
there was a light and the noise of an engine. A car came out from behind the
trees: an old Daihatsu, 4WD. He waved his hand and the car stopped. “What
happened? Did you get lost?” – the driver asked. “I missed the last
bus.” – he answered. “Jump in.”
Christmas proclaims a powerful
message of hope: Jesus, the light of the world, has come to defeat the darkness
and set us free from all things that enslave our lives. Let us experience the
power of this message and share its joy with others.