4th Sunday of Lent Fr. Leo
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, And this is not from you; it is the gift of God; It is not from works, so no one may boast.” (St. Paul)
Salvation is God’s gift to us through faith. We don’t earn it, buy it, steel it or borrow it. It is God’s gift for is tp share in his divine life. This gift is a constant invitation for us to share in God’s divine life.
The catch is the invitation. While God is always there to bestow himself upon us, we for our part need to desire and seek this sharing in God’s goodness. This seeking is the choice to come into the light of God. Christ is our light.
The Gospel uses this image of light and contrasts it with darkness. Those living in God by his Spirit, walking in his ways, come into his light. Those who’s ways are evil seek to hide in the darkness. Growing in God then is moving out of darkness and into his light.
Just as a day in this world has both light and darkness, we live in the midst of both and all of us need to come out of our own darkness. This is done not by shame or coercion, it is done through prayer with God who shows us a better way of living that encompasses more joy and purpose.
Even the holiest person will be shown by the Lord what darkness they could cast off. The Lord in gentle in this as we should be with ourselves. So it is important that we not be afraid of the Spirit’s voice within us during our prayer, because in will never harm us, it will only heal.
When we come to celebrate our Easter Vigil and the church is in darkness and we light the Paschal Candle and share God’s light with one another, let us pray that on that holy night our lives will be a little brighter. That we may glow a bit more in the light that calls us to live in God and for one another.