Lights of The World

In a world where success is synonymous with God’s blessing, i.e. America, we can often times forget our own value. “In a race everyone runs, but only one receives the prize…”, writes St. Paul. This principle is true at every level of our society.

Go to any competitive event, whether it be athletic, academic, or artistic, and the one thing that everyone understands is “1st place”. One does not need to be an aficionado, a running enthusiast, or Chess Grandmaster to understand what it means to have won something or performed in one of those manmade “cities on a hill”: Carnegie Hall, Broadway, or the rusty silver screens of Hollywood.

What it means to be “number one” by the worlds standards can cause our own lights to dim. As people are drawn to the “lights” that accomplish grand and wonderful feats of body and mind, other “lesser lights” are eclipsed by their brilliance, or so it appears. This is because every flash of light is bright but also ephemeral; they are blinding, but are like a vapor. When people need true light, they need it to be constant and bright, not sparklers or a light show, and when people need warmth, they sit by a fire, not fireworks.

This is what we must remember when we wake up and feel that God still has us on the bench rather than in the game. When Jesus gave His famous Sermon on the Mount, He said these famous words:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden…Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

Mt. 5:14,16

Many pastors, Christian self-help books, and even secular people will use this verse or verses like it for their TED Talks or social media posts about how to get ahead in life, obtain that dream job, or whatever other idol made of straw they want to prop up with a verse taken out of context. “The reason you’re not ahead in life is because you need to have confidence! Let you’re light shine!”, or so they say.

But Christ’s words follow upon the “Blessed” statements, from which we get the word “Beatitudes”. The list of people that are blessed are not the aforementioned podium climbers of self-help gurus or even the incredible teachers that grace our ambos and podcasts. They are the “poor in spirit”, “those that mourn”, and those that “hunger for righteousness.” It is in this context that Christ says, “You are the light of the world.” But it is within the Church that we see how a “hidden light” is often times the brightest light to the world.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), there is a paragraph on the sacraments that talks about the faith of the Church preceding the believer. It says, in paragraph 1124,

The Church’s faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it.

CCC, 1124.

I have thought about this paragraph a lot since becoming Catholic. The Church is another kind of “city on a hill.” In fact, it is the City on a Hill. Everyone knows who she is, what she teaches, and either accepts or rejects her. But even here we can be tempted to see the incredible ministry of a layperson, priest, bishop, or even the Pope himself and think “I don’t really matter.” But this is not true. You are essential to the Kingdom of Heaven. You too are a light of the world.

Recently, over 20,000 Catholics came together for a conference called SEEK. On the outside looking in, it appears to be an opportunity for Catholics to enjoy all the benefits of a non-denominational megachurch, the lights, the warehouse, the contemporary worship music, etc., without crossing the Tiber to do so. I say this tongue and cheek, but I didn’t think that Christian rap could get any worse, and then I discovered Catholic rap. Yes, it exists.

That said, videos began to circulate of famous Catholic speakers and writers at the event. Trent Horn, well known Catholic apologist had a line that was nearly 200 people long! Auditoriums were packed to hear other speakers as well. Even as a protestant, I can’t think of a Christian conference when I was protestant that filled rooms the way I saw them filled at SEEK (maybe Promise Keepers?).

In this context, it can be daunting to think that our little lights still matter when we see these light houses on a stage with their listeners hanging on their every word. Further, there writings and podcasts have reached millions of people. If you’re a convert, you might be one of those millions of people. How then, can we say that your light or mine matters?

Because you and them are part of the same Church and as such, and it’s the Church’s faith that “…precedes the faith of believers who haven’t yet adhered to it.”

Yes, any convert or revert that has come into to the Church today, has likely had their first encounter with the faith via Fr. Mike Schmitz, Bishop Barron, Matt Fradd, or a Catholic Answers apologists like Trent Horn or Jimmy Akin. Maybe it was the Church Fathers writings that led to your conversion like well known convert, Joshua Charles. But often it takes more than a famous person to get someone into the Church. It requires a constant flame that will not only bring someone into the Church, but permit that soul to experience the fullness of the Church.

One night, after attending a Dominican Rite Mass (a more traditional form of the mass), my wife and I bumped into a couple. They were lifelong Catholics. They told us about the struggles and confusion that had come about in their parishes as a result of Vatican II and how they missed the old rites that more Churches used to do, and that it was really hard to find parishes, but they never left the Church. It was in this moment, that I realized what a light of the world really was. It wasn’t the “flashes in the pan”, it was the embers of the Church, the faithful Catholics souls who would not allow the chaos of the spiritual war that wages against the Church to extinguish their faith. They had kept their lamps burning, setting their light on a hill, and in doing so, fulfilling teaching that “The Church’s faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it.”

God has given each of us gifts, the first of which is the light of life, our very existence. He has made each of us for a purpose, and that purpose is found first and foremost within the Church, not outside it. It is within the Church that our hidden lives become lights to the world, not hidden by us, but hidden by God as he prepares those cold souls who need, not a flash of light, but the warmth and light that can only come from a constant fire. We can do this within the church because our light is fueled by a faith nourished by the sacraments, tended to by the Mother of God, and that rests in the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Church. You are a gift to the Church, the City on the Hill, so let your light shine before men.

— DR.