April 28, 2021 – Wednesday of the 4th Week of Easter
Acts 12:24- 13:5 a, John 12:44-50
“I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness” (Jn. 12:46). Whenever we ponder the Lord in glory, we find ourselves, with him, close to the heart of the Father. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth: “God, who spoke that light would shine out in the darkness, has dawned in our hearts that we might be enlightened with the knowledge of the glory and majesty of God shining in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). By the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, we become ministers of light to the world. It is the Spirit that makes us both able and willing to be ministers of the Good News of salvation and to act for the greater glory of God the Father. As the gospel continues to spread, it will expand, till it reaches the ends of the earth. We must go forward in the strength of the Lord and look to him to accompany our efforts with the power of the Holy Ghost until the kingdom of Christ is established.
The kingdom of Christ reflects the communion of the Blessed Trinity. As we gaze upon the face of Christ, we see the face of the Father. United to Christ in love, we learn to obey the Father and are set ablaze with the Fire of divine love. The more we gaze upon him who came as the Light of the world, the more we become ministers of light for people who walk in darkness. We find these reassuring words in the Prologue of St. John’s gospel: “The light keeps shining in the darkness cannot overcome it” (Jn. 1:5). In this darkened world, through baptism and our monastic profession, we all share in the Lord’s mission to be light. Our constitutions say it quite beautifully: “By fidelity to their monastic way of life, which has its own hidden mode of apostolic fruitfulness, monks perform a service for God’s people and the whole human race” (CST. 4).
Every aspect of our life should focus on the praise of God. “Our praise is expressed with joy, our petitions with yearning. For we have been promised a glory we possess now only in part. Because the promise of glory was made by the Lord who keeps promises, we trust it and are glad; but since full possession is delayed, we long and yearn for it. It is good for us to persevere in longing until we receive what was promised. When yearning is over, praise alone will remain” (Saint Augustine). Alleluia is our song. When we sing Alleluia in the world, we invite everyone who hears it to share that same hope, that same love, that same new life. Pope Francis said at Easter, we leave ourselves behind and encounter others by “being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast.” We are Easter people. People who know that life has triumphed over death even though the battle continues to slog on. We are people with one foot in joy and the other in longing. We are people who stand at the crossroads of the already and the not yet.
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