Jn
8:12-20
In
the opening words of today’s gospel Jesus said, “I am the light of the world;
anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark; he will have the light
of life.” Light is one the most important prerequisites for the survival of
life on earth. Life on earth without light would be total misery. Darkness fundamentally,
does not exist. Rather it is a lack or absence of light. In a world that is
wrecked with darkness of sin, hatred, prejudice, immorality, etc, we need to
introduce Jesus who is the true light to come and disperse the darkness of this
world. When we do good to our neighbor, we shine some light and darkness
disappears; when we give food to the hungry, support the weak and oppress, we
disperse the darkness of sorrow. Darkness will continue to reign so long as
there is no light to challenge it. However, darkness cannot withstand the presence
of light.
In
the second part of the statement, Jesus promised that his followers “will not
be walking in the dark” but “will have the light of light life”. Do not be
afraid of darkness of any sort for Christ is moving before us with the light of
life. The responsorial psalm of today should be our response to this promise and
our prayer always—“Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for
you are with me” (Ps 23:4)
