I recently had a baptism
at St Mary’s in Yazoo City on my last Sunday there before I leave for my new
parish assignment in Tupelo later this week.
In the baptismal rite, the godparent lights a candle for the child being
baptized from the paschal candle. This represents
the light of Christ that is being passed on to the child. The baptismal rite explains that this light
is entrusted to the parents and grandparents in order to be kept burning
brightly in the life of the child.
We are the light of
Christ. We have the light of Christ
burning inside of us. We can choose to
keep this light burning. We can pass on
this light to others. Or we can extinguish
the light and keep it hidden from the world.
When I was a small child
growing up in Chicago in the Rogers Park neighbor, the example of Christ’s
light living in the adults at the church that we attended was a great example
of faith for me. I felt so nurtured and
so encourage by the light of Christ that I saw in their lives. I seem like this light of Christ was so
appreciated in our world. However,
today, I see Christianity under attack.
I see the government trying to marginalize the light of Christ in the
world and to make it irrelevant, like the way it tried to take down the lighted
cross that was on the water tower in Bentonia just down the road from us here
in Yazoo City. However, the good people
of that city raised funds in order to put that light on a tower located on
private land.
We may face a lot of
challenges and struggles in our live that try to keep the light of Christ away
from us. Yet, it is up to us to keep it
burning brightly. May we never forget
that task that is entrusted to us.
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