Monday after Epiphany
1 Jn 3:22-4:6
Mt 4:12-17,23-25
The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who dwell in a land of shadow and death light has dawned.
Decades ago, I had a job that involved a great deal of overlapping data in record keeping. Things that had to be entered, here, and here, and here…you get the picture. Tedious work that was time-consuming and seemed to me to be unnecessary. I did it the way I was taught by my predecessor, even though I felt it was a bit too monotonous and didn’t need to be done with such precision, entering the same thing in so many different places. It was not just boring, but a timewaster, that demanded total focus. After about six weeks, I deemed that I would make the decision to do it a smarter, more streamlined way, as I didn’t really see what it would ever be used for anyway; it seemed to just be paper that got filed away, never to see the light of day. I didn’t tell anyone of this decision because I didn’t want to be told to keep doing it the way I’d been instructed. I was smarter than the old way. Then, at the end of the quarter, I was asked to create a report from all that tedious cross-referenced data. It was then that I realized WHY the same data was entered into so many different places. I had to work nearly all weekend, because I had to go back and enter the numbers correctly for the few weeks of my ‘enlightenment’ — the better, smarter way.
I was taught correctly, but I mistakenly thought I was bringing enlightenment to an old, unnecessary way of doing things when in fact, I was in the darkness. Sitting in the darkness because I was thinking too highly of myself. So highly, that I never asked, “why do we have to do it this way?” I thought I knew what I was doing. I thought I could see the whole picture. I didn’t realize that I was in the dark.
Though I honestly have forgotten the details of that work, I’ve never forgotten the lessons. Ask questions when you don’t understand. Don’t assume you are the smartest one in the room. Don’t change things/systems without knowing the ramifications the changes could bring. To put it simply, the lesson that what you see and think needs LIGHT to determine the fullness of the situation and the accuracy of the situation.
Great lessons for daily life, and for our relationship with the Church, with Jesus, with God, with the Holy Spirit. The LIGHT that we need doesn’t come from technology, from politicians, from billionaires, from celebrities, from social media, from the internet, from winning in this world. The LIGHT we need is from God, is God. All the light is GOD. The ‘light’ that shines forth from us as individuals and as a people is merely the radiance of the LIGHT of GOD inside of us. It is only in the light that we can see clearly. That we can even begin to understand. That we even realize the darkness of this world, and the darkness inside our very self.
We know we need the LIGHT and we seek it in others to help us on our journey. God has placed LIGHT in our lives, our Guardian Angel, the Saints, and those in flesh and blood beside us to help guide us as we step here and there, to keep us on the righteous path and out of the pitfalls. Oftentimes, it is the light inside others that allows us to see where we are walking and when we need to turn right or left. Or rest.
When I think of the people who are LIGHT in my life, I am overcome with gratitude. And rejoicing in the light is what all Christians are capable of embracing all the time. Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to take a few minutes right now to simply write down the names of a dozen or more who are light in your life. As you write their names, the light in your heart will show on your face and you will be rejoicing.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gina Ulicny)
Prayer: Father God, we ask for the grace to always turn from darkness.
Thanksgiving: Lord God, Light of the world, we thank you for all those You have graciously placed in our path to guide us to eternal life with You and all the Angels and Saints.
OXYGEN 
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