“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ~
I have spent years watching children as part of my priesthood assignments. I was a chaplain at a home for boys. I was the director and chaplain of our diocesan summer camp. I have had several parishes that had schools attached. In all those assignments, there was an opportunity to see how children react when they are caught doing something they should not be doing. Those of you who have children know of what I speak.
Children — or, for that matter, any of us — do not like getting caught because, when they are, what they have done comes to the light. People will know if they cheated on a test, called someone a name, or took something that belonged to someone else. They would much rather keep those deeds to themselves, to keep them hidden, to have them remain in the dark.
There are those who are afraid of Jesus Christ because they know that His penetrating light will expose them for who and what they are. The light of Christ will pierce the darkness of sin and illuminate the entire person, sins and all. Some people cannot take the thought of that and, because of it, do all that they can to avoid the Lord.
The problem with that is that there is no way to avoid Jesus Christ. No matter how successful we might become with that on earth, when we pass away, we come front and center before the Lord and are as exposed to His light as anyone else.
If we do not want to be frightened by that future reality, there is a remedy: do good. That sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Yet, it is the absolute truth. To know that we will have to face the Lord and to have our entire lives exposed is less frightening if we know that our good deeds will be exposed as well. We all know that there are things that we have done and said or left undone or unsaid that have been wrong. However, if we do our best to do good as well, we could stand before the Lord with more hope than fear.
Do not fear the light of Christ. Do not fear the judgment. Instead, prepare for it by making sure that you do good more often throughout your lives.
FAITH ACTION: Do good for others and for yourself today.