Some might hear the words from Daniel and Mark today and be fearful. Be afraid we have things we need to do before Jesus comes again, or things we need to stop doing.
But Daniel also says we are called to be stars shining brightly before all others. And if we are stars shining before mankind, we have no fear of judgment.
And the Gospels tell us how to be stars and lights shining brightly. We are called to bear witness to the truth and love of Jesus Christ even to the highest court or the most mundane work place.
We are called to be a light burning so brightly that everyone around us will see the love God has for his children.
And we are called to be committed to this witness every day; at work, at play, and at worship.
Only then will the words of warning heard in Daniel and Mark today be about fulfillment rather than fear.
Only then will today’s Gospel be about good news rather than judgment.
Only then will we truly understand what Jesus taught us throughout his ministry on earth; that if we love God with all our heart and soul and mind, and love our neighbor as our self, everything else will fall in place.
Obedience to the commandments will be the natural consequence of our love. The reaching out to help and care for others will be as natural as taking our next breath of air. Setting aside a portion of our blessings to ensure God’s Word continues to be heard in his church will be like automatic bank drafts that we no longer have to think about, it just happens.
That is, …. if we are lights shining brightly for Jesus Christ. And if we are lights shining brightly for Christ then it requires that we are lights shining brightly for others too.
We need to ask ourselves, how would the people in our lives describe us?
Do they feel the love we have for others?
For those that are married, have we grown our love for each other with sacrifice, forgiveness and selfless love, Real love requires sacrifice. Without exception. Just as the Christian is required to give himself to Jesus Christ completely, every aspect of his life—a spouse too is required to give themselves to their spouse without compartmentalizing or holding back. Love requires that level of sacrifice.
How about people at work or that we socialize with?
Do they even know we believe and hold God above all else in our lives?
Has everything fallen into place or do we still struggle with obedience to the commandments. Are we still reluctant to reach out and really be there for others that God has sent to us?
We are either lights shining for Christ or we are part of the reason others do not know Christ. We are either shining lights or we are allowing darkness our world.
There is a story of a wealthy nobleman who lived a long time ago in a mountain village in Europe; the man wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. One day he made a decision.
He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished.
At its grand opening, the people gathered and marveled at the beauty of the new church.
Everything had been thought of and included. The church had everything in place and was a masterpiece. It was awe inspiring and magnificent in every way. It had high arches and giant columns and a wonderful altar and pulpit that all could see.
But when the big day came and the new church was revealed someone said, “Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It’s really dark in here. How will we be able to see?”
The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship.
“Each time you are here’” he said, “the place where you are seated will have light. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God’s house will be dark”
It’s the same in this world of ours.
If no one can see through our lives and actions that we are followers of Christ,
if our spouse feels like we phone in our feelings and commitment to them,
if our children feel like everything is more important than our time with them,
if our friends don’t know they are loved,
if St Theresa has never seen us here outside of mass volunteering to help our parish mission, then maybe we are adding to the darkness in the world.
But when we embrace the teachings of Christ, recognize his love for us and truly love others, we are lights in the world no matter where we go and no matter what we do.
We are eager to share what we have.
We are first to reach out to those in need.
We have compassion and are careful with the lives and hearts of others.
That is the real message today and if our lives represent lights shining brightly we are blessed and we know it.
But perhaps we come here today struggling.
As sinners we don’t always do or even feel what we should.
Maybe possessions take control of our focus and priorities. Maybe we spend more time gathering money than we do loving others, much less God; more time in front of the TV and on the Internet than we do praying and worshiping our Father.
I recently read where someone has calculated what we do with the days
, weeks and months that make up our lives. Here are some numbers:
Sleep…………….. 35% (who gets that much)
Work…………….. 33%
Leisure, vacations, TV, Internet…………… 27%
Illness……………. 4%
but the most surprising was
Worship and prayer………….LESS THAN 1%
Now I am the last one to put a lot of confidence in statistics but it seems most of us aren’t as bright as we think we are. If our light was an oil lamp, we seemed to be a little stingy with the oil.
If today we hear the words of Daniel and Mark and aren’t sure where we stand with God, we are deceiving ourselves. We are called by our baptism to be ministers among God’s children showing them the way to God by being the light for others, by loving God and all people and we know what that feels like and looks like.
It isn’t a fuzzy thing. It isn’t something that is unclear. Love is never ambiguous or hesitant or fuzzy. Love is not dependent on transient feelings either but is built on sacrifice and selflessness.
The good news today is that even though our light might not burn as brightly as we want it to all the time,
if we strive to keep it lit,
if we turn back to His path and remember that God expects our light to shine for others, we should not feel afraid of proclamations of end times or the coming of Jesus or his angels.
We will already be watching and ready and the light that we shone here on earth will be a brilliant light as we go to meet our Father.
Just like our love for others, our light will be so bright we will not be afraid. †
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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