In yesterday’s video reflection for the Best Advent Ever, Matthew Kelly focused on today’s Gospel, and particularly the opening verse that describes John the Baptist as one who came to “testify to the light.” How powerful is that? Isn’t that what we all should do?
Matthew points out a thought that has been on my heart quite a lot over the last couple years. It’s the realization of just how difficult it is to follow that example of John the Baptist.
First of all, we need to acknowledge that Christians are persecuted for their faith in many places around the world, even today. Matthew refers to a book, Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison, by Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, a Cardinal in Vietnam. From a description of the book:
During a time of political unrest in Vietnam, he was arrested for his faith and spent the next thirteen years in prison, enduring harsh treatment and deplorable conditions. He spent nine of those thirteen years in solitary confinement.
Yet, while in that prison, he found peace and joy. In fact, he wrote notes on small scraps of paper and managed to get them smuggled out of the prison to be shared with the world.
Wow. How much do we let the world get us down? There are times when I get so frustrated, and I feel like there is no hope.
In that video meditation, Matthew also acknowledges another issue that has been on my heart, the fact that, in a culture that preaches tolerance, being anti-Christian is the one remaining acceptable prejudice. I often ponder how that must delight the evil one, knowing that he has found a new way to silence people who might otherwise share God’s good news.
And that is why we need to fight through it. Even though it is becoming more difficult these days, and I agree with Matthew that it will probably continue to get even harder, we have to find the courage to “testify to the light.” Despite the cultural trend to resist it, the world needs God’s message of hope and peace.
One last reference to that video: Matthew mentions a song that he and his family love. Sing it with me. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” (in the audiobook for my favorite Matthew Kelly book, Resisting Happiness, you get to hear him sing it with one of his very young sons)
How will you let your light shine today? How can we all “testify to the light” in a world that rejects the light of Christ, even when it needs it most? Let’s continue to support one another as we search for ways to be the light!