From the Deacon's Desk

Each day, I reflect upon a word or a phrase inspired by the readings of the day. I encourage you to do the same and perhaps incorporate that word or phrase into your daily prayer.

Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

LIGHT OF THE WORLD: When I think back on some of the times in my life that I have been afraid, quite a few of those memories involve darkness: being in the basement as a small boy when someone turned the lights off, camping at night when a storm rolled in, and feeling my way through a dark haunted house on Halloween.

I can just as easily remember that it was the introduction of light that eased my fear. Lights flipped on in the basement. The morning light breaking through at the end of the storm. A door opening at the end of the hallway of the haunted house. Light almost immediately made things better.

In John’s Gospel today we hear that Jesus is the light of the world. He came to break up the darkness – the fear – that can rule our lives.

If you have ever planted a seed and set the pot on a window sill, you know that a plant will “reach out” and grow toward the light. As disciples of Jesus we have that same opportunity. We simply need to reach out of the darkness toward the light of Jesus Christ.