What a cool story today from Acts 5. The Apostles once again get thrown into the hoosegow when, in the middle of the night, an angel comes and opens the doors to the prison and lets them out. This is getting to be something of a pattern for these guys! In fact, today we might say that the Apostles were a bunch of jailbirds. Our Gospel reading for today starts with John 3:16, maybe the most familiar verse in Scripture. But today I would like to concentrate on the second half of this reading.
St. John says, “the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” How true, huh? Whenever we do underhanded things, we always want to keep them in the dark, hidden from view. Perhaps this is a good litmus test to check our works.
Have you ever heard of people who have had near-death experiences? Often they will say that they were drawn to a light. Sometimes they may even hear a voice saying, “Come to the light.” Interesting that that is exactly what St. John says today. Whoever lives the truth comes to the light. We know that Jesus is the light of the world. Let us come to Him in this world, that we will come to Him in the next.
Father, forgive us for the times when we do things in the darkness. Help us to live the truth, that our lives may shine out the light of Christ. Amen.
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