Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed?

31 JANUARY (Mk 4,21-25)

Psalm 119 is a great hymn to the Word of the Lord, to this divine light that must always burn in the heart of a man. A man asks God to keep it on.

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. They stand this day according to Your ordinances, For all things are Your servants. If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me. I am Yours, save me; For I have sought Your precepts. The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider Your testimonies. I have seen a limit to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad. O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. I have sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances. I am exceedingly afflicted; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.(Psalm 119 (118) 89-107).

The candleholder is the life of a man. The Christian must be both lamp and chandelier, light and lamp. His life is the light and the fruit of light. Once this light is on, it must light all those who are in the house, that is the whole world. There is no place where a Christian can turn off his light and present himself like any other man. He is a Christian and he will also go to hell as a Christian. For all eternity he will feel the burden of having been a disciple of Jesus the Lord.

Today there is much talk of renewal of catechesis of new evangelization, of restructuring of the ways and forms through which the Word of the Gospel is given to the world. We forget to say that the Christian is the true living catechism, in the same way that Jesus was the Father’s daily catechesis. Not his word, but his life, his very being, his every action and relationship. Everything about him spoke of God, of the Father, of eternity, of truth and of the redemption of man.

He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lamp stand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Never who becomes a Christian might hide his identity. He cannot because it is his own life. It is his Christian body. He can hide the soul, but not the body. He can put under a bushel his heart, but not the word. This is audible. The responsibility of the Christian is great. He chose Christ and chose him for time and eternity. He chose him for all the moments of his earthly existence. In every place he is a Christian. In every occupation he is a disciple of Jesus. Whatever he does or thinks he must do it and think of it as a new creature, reborn of water and Holy Spirit, as a participant in the divine nature, as an adopted Son of the Father, living temple of the Holy Spirit and most holy body of Lord Jesus.

The Christian, in his body, in his history, is the living catechesis of the truth of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. If this catechesis is bankruptcy, empty, sinful, of grave scandal; the other one made of words, doctrine, theology, catechisms, last moment updated books, will necessarily be a failure. It lacks in visible, bodily and historical catechesis. It lacks in light and candlestick, lamp and history unity. It is missing of the body of the Christian that must be revealed to the world as the perfect light of the word of Lord Jesus. The Christian life is the only real catechesis.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us true light in Christ Jesus.