Reflections from the Heart – July 2, 2023

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“Announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  At times, darkness can feel like life and life can feel like darkness.  We cannot see darkness, but we experience it and the effects of low light or no light at all.  Darkness can feel heavy, cold, isolated, and lonely.  It can also feel creepy, fearful and unsafe inside.  The darkness we speak of is not like the beauty of a dark night, where the noise of light, the busy lights, does not interrupt the beauty of a night sky filled with endless stars, galaxies and an array of constellations.  That is God’s gracious gift and the beauty of creation. The darkness we speak of is the kind of darkness we hope to avoid. The type of darkness where beauty seems hidden and unrecognizable.  The kind of darkness where the pathways we take for granted seem closed off and inaccessible.  The darkness that causes the walkways we prefer to walk daily to not be easily seen.  They seem somehow lost or unavailable to us.  The darkness we simply cannot see and it causes us not to be able to see, filling us with fear of what may come or what may be.  We lose our sense of direction.  We lose our cool and calm.  The darkness enters in.  It creeps in slowly and unnoticed. It tries to hide, cover and blind the light. We feel lost, vulnerable, unsure and afraid.  There is also the fear of an interior darkness. It has the same effects and experiences of the darkness around us.  The same feelings are caused inside of us.  This kind of darkness can be extremely dark like a dark depression or as deep as a deep, dark secret.  Sin is darkness.  Sin causes darkness and darkness causes sin.  Darkness blinds truth, covers beauty, and hides goodness.  Fear not! Jesus is the Light of the World that burns ever so brightly within us.  He is the light that darkness runs from, hides from, and fears.  The Light of Christ can never be extinguished.  Darkness can never overcome this light.  Jesus conquered death, darkness and the enemy of light.  Saint John the Evangelist says, when Jesus comes in his glorious splendor and radiant light that, “Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.”  Go therefore without fear and “Announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”