September 25, Monday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: Ezra 1:1–6, Matthew 5:16
One of the highlights of the Easter Vigil, the climax of the Catholic liturgy, is the blessing of the Paschal Candle. Usually around four feet tall, this huge candle is processed in a pitch black church during the midnight of Black Saturday, symbolizing the everlasting light the risen Christ offers to the dark world. Through His resurrection, the Lord defeated death and redeemed us of our sins forevermore.
When Jesus was born into the world, this was always his end goal: to suffer, die, and rise again to become the world’s light. God loved the world so much that He did not keep His only begotten Son for Himself but gave him to us so that we might enjoy everlasting life (John 3:16). According to St. Ignatius of Antioch, God introduced a “medicine of immortality” into our world of death through Jesus. He did not remain a secret. Instead, He lowered and exposed Himself to humanity, became known to us, and exchanged His life for our salvation.
Just like Christ offered everything He had, we are also called to walk the same path that He walked. We are expected to live selfless lives, get away from the darkness, and never keep blessings to ourselves. Our talents and wealth will only gain their fullest meaning when we learn how to share.
In the First Reading, we saw the Israelites come together to build the temple in Jerusalem during the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia (Ezr 1:1–6). This is an ideal example of what the people of God can do when we learn to come together and share what we have with the world in the name of the Lord.
Most importantly, we constantly receive love and mercy from God Himself, and this is not meant to be just for us. When it overflows in our hearts, we must start to give it away and let other people feel loved as well. Keeping these gifts “secrets” is not the Christian way of living. This is meant to be revealed and expressed to others.
If we are to be illuminated just like Jesus, we must learn to break our hearts open and emulate how He touched the world through His impactful words, His mesmerizing miracles, and His ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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