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Let Christ’s Light Shine Through
Years ago, I heard the story of a little girl who grew up going to church with her mother every Sunday. Each week, the mother would try to keep her daughter entertained during the Mass by pointing out the different elements of the church and their worship. She would have her watch for the Gospel procession with its candles and incense. She would tell her to watch for the consecration when the priest raises up the bread and the chalice. And she would point out the stained-glass windows of the church, explaining how each one told the story of a saint.
When the little girl was in first grade, her mother sent her to religious education class. And when All Saints Day was near, the catechist asked the class, “What is a saint?” The little girl, thinking about the stained-glass windows her mother had pointed out to her in church, replied, “A saint is a person that the light shines through.”
Isn’t this what each of us is called to be? From the moment we first receive the gift of the Light of Christ in Baptism, we hope that the Divine Light may permeate our entire being so that, just like those saints depicted in stained-glass windows in churches all around the world, we also may reflect the Light of Christ for all to see.
Like most windows, over time we accumulate dirt and dust. We find ourselves smeared and smudged and becoming less transparent. When we find ourselves a bit dirty and dusty, or smudged with sin, what are we to do?
We seek out Christ, our Savior. In Jesus, our sins are washed away. In Jesus, our holiness is restored. Through the abundant mercy of God, revealed to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we are led from darkness to light, so that nothing may prevent us from reflecting the Divine Light of God.
Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us, “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? … For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:35, 38-39).
If we look at the lives of the saints, we discover that they did not spend their time here on earth free of any problems, difficulties, challenges, or sins. Instead, we find that when life left them feeling dirty and smudged, and the Light of the Lord did not seem to shine through them so easily, the saints learned how to draw near to Christ and be renewed and restored in grace and holiness.
At this time of year, when our children are headed back to school, we may find ourselves in need of some continuing education. All of us can take a lesson from the saints, learning how to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel. As that little girl’s story reminds us, a saint is a person that the light shines through. May God guide each of us on the path to holiness, instructing us each day how to reveal the Light of Christ to the world through our words and our actions, and teaching us how to be renewed through the gift of mercy. Like the saints depicted in stained-glass windows, may we allow the Light of Christ to shine bright in us.
