Could there ever be a more basic contrast? Doesn't every story always come down to good versus evil? The whole of morality is made up of questions of good and bad, black and white, yin and yang.
This is a season of darkness. In under a week now, we will experience the shortest day of the year. Shortly thereafter, we will all gather to say "We are halfway through the dark". We look toward the light.
Before Christmas, there was another holiday around the winter solstice - the pagan celebration of Sol Invictus. The Unconquerable Sun. Just as we do today, our ancestors from millennia ago gathered to celebrate the triumph of light over dark.
Advent, too, is a season of darkness. I still remember Monday mornings at Serra gathering on the floor of the darkened gymnasium...gathering around a tiny wreath, and watching a tiny point of light. The flame was no more than an inch tall, yet could be seen from every corner of the dim room. The next week, there were two; then three; then four. The closer we got to Christmas, the brighter it got.
Advent, and with it Christmas is a celebration of the triumph of light over dark.
"And God said 'Let there be light', and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness" - Genesis 1:3-4
The first thing God created was light. The very first act of creation was to make the distinction that would become the blueprint for all contrast.
"You are my lamp, O Lord! O my God, you brighten the darkness around me." - 2 Samuel 22:29
Later, we come to know God as our comfort and source of light. We do not ignore the darkness...we rely on God to turn it to light. Isn't that a wonderful metaphor? God does not say that our lives will be free of darkness, but that his light will illuminate the darkness. God cannot guarantee our lives will be free of pain, but that his light will turn it to our benefit.
"My God turns my darkness to light" - Psalm 18:28
"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwell in gloom a light has shone" - Isaiah 9:1
Now we find Isaiah making the connections to what we know refers to Jesus, the light of the world. If, then, Jesus was the "light in the darkness", and we become one with Christ in the Eucharist, then logically...
..."You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly father." - Matthew 5:14-16
Not only does Jesus make it clear that we are to carry on in His footsteps ("Do this in memory of me") and be his "hands and feet" in the world, but we have a duty to share this light with the world. What exactly is that light? It is our love. It is our gifts and talents and passions. We often go so far as to describe passion as "flames" or "burning" - light. God makes it very, very clear that we have all been given abundant blessings and it is now our job to use those blessings to spread the Good News.
"To one he gave five talents (Note: Don't get all uppity that they used the word "talent" - it's not referring to your ability to underwater basket-weave. In first century Judea, a talent was a unit of currency. Quite a lot, actually. One talent was approximately a years wages), to another, two; to a third, one...then he went away...After a long time the master returned and settled accounts with them...The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more'...Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said..."Out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back'...His master said to him, "You wicked, lazy servant!" - Matthew 25
This parable clearly shows that God wants us to use the gifts we have been given (and, as a happy accident, uses the word "talent").
So, the whole point of all of this is to take the light you have been given - light from God and of God - and spread it to every corner of the world. Will it be easy? No, because "people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives in the truth comes into the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God" (John 3:19-21).
So, if you are "bearing the light" to the world, you will be hated because the world is full of darkness and darkness opposes light. The nature of light, though, is one that overcomes darkness. A torch pierces the darkness, and "no amount of darkness can snuff out a single candle flame".
God is not telling us that spreading the light will be easy..."He did not say that you would not be assailed, or bothered, or disquieted - he said 'You will not be overcome" - Bl. Julian of Norwich
We will be tested by spreading this light of love, but we must always remember that
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" - John 1:5
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