I love the gospel of John because he so beautifully gets to the heart of the matter and that is that the Father and the Son are one. You don’t get one without the other, you don’t hear one without the other, you don’t experience one without the other, and you don’t see one without seeing the other. Jesus is adamant about this point and in today’s gospel he uses the concept of light to reveal their (Father/Son) nature. The first thought that came to my mind was a lighthouse so I looked up the function of a lighthouse and one of the first things that came up was, “to navigate in the fog.” Lighthouses also marked dangerous coastlines, rocky shores, hazardous reefs, and precarious entrances. A lighthouse directs, points, communicates, and beacons via a light that pierces even the thickest fog, stormiest clouds, and most violent rains. It signals to the lost, the scared, the terrified, the far off one, the one about to sink or drown, the one in trouble, and the one that cannot see where they are in the dark. Jesus points us to the safe harbor, which is the Father’s love. Jesus points us to the Father with the very essence that is the Father, light. Light, similar to air, is perpetually touching us, constantly dancing around us, and forever sustaining us. Like the air, light comes in different degrees, from gentle to blinding, from yellow flickers to hot white beams, from sweet candlelight to fierce stadium lights, pinpricks to floods, and the list goes on.
God’s nature as light is a beautiful thing for us to swim in today. The lighthouse we have in Jesus points us to the safe harbor of our Father, but we can also take on this nature with our own lives, by pointing others to the one that lights up our lives. So then we might be able to also claim, “whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.” Perhaps we can do some light collecting today and see where Jesus points us. Look for those moments throughout the day that point our eyes to the Father. These are your light collection. Our light collections will help us navigate in the fog, will point out precarious places, and will lead us to the safe harbor of the Father’s love. In this light we will be found, we will see the one who sent us, and we will know where we are in the dark. Here a light collection poem to encourage you to collect your own today. It is well with my soul.
Collecting Light
By Jennifer Lyn
The birds perform shamelessly singing,
“Look at me! Look at me!”
like a child in a school play waving their arms to be seen.
My hair dances in the wind and glistens because
stardust has been sprinkled
by angels whispering my name – Brilliant.
There are diamonds in my friend’s eyes as she shares from her heart
and water pools making the diamonds bling.
The trees stretch themselves high up and they sigh,
“Ah, that feels so good.”
They sparkle with praise for the God who created them in the
arms of the Son.
The sun wraps me in a mantle of anointing and opens my cold
so I can sing like the birds – shamelessly,
and praise like the trees,
and share with diamond eyes,
and be brilliant like stardust
because angels whisper my name
and God is light
and I collect it all.
Reading 1 ACTS 12:24—13:5A
The word of God continued to spread and grow.
After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission,
they returned to Jerusalem,
taking with them John, who is called Mark.
Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
"Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them."
Then, completing their fasting and prayer,
they laid hands on them and sent them off.
So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit,
went down to Seleucia
and from there sailed to Cyprus.
When they arrived in Salamis,
they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.
After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission,
they returned to Jerusalem,
taking with them John, who is called Mark.
Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
"Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them."
Then, completing their fasting and prayer,
they laid hands on them and sent them off.
So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit,
went down to Seleucia
and from there sailed to Cyprus.
When they arrived in Salamis,
they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.
Responsorial Psalm PS 67:2-3, 5, 6 AND 8
R.(4) O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 8:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel JN 12:44-50
Jesus cried out and said,
“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”
“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”
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