Our Faith Defines Us

𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓. 𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐄𝐳𝐫𝐚 𝟏:𝟏-𝟔

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟐𝟔:𝟏-𝟔 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬.” 𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟖:𝟏𝟔-𝟏𝟖

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏.” (𝒗.17) 

Short this gospel passage may be, but these verses are probably one of the most significant verses in the Scriptures because these are what we are supposed to be as Christians whose lives have been touched and illumined by the love and Grace of God.

         Simply put this Gospel tells us to show to the world who and what we are. And again, we need to go back to the foundation of our nature that we are all created in the image and likeness of God (𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟏:𝟐𝟔) and this is the nature that the world must see in us.

         This also brings me back to June 12,1998 when the Philippines celebrated its Centennial and then President Fidel V. Ramos, through an Executive Order, enjoined the entire nation to display the Philippine flag in their homes, business establishments, vehicles, buildings, etc.

         Again, after the 9-11 tragedy, we see American homes displaying the American flag in their porches, in their lawns and, wherever they can display it to express their solidarity as a nation.

         In both instances, Filipinos and Americans took pride in their identities with the use of their respective national banners because those colors project our image of who we are. Our national banners speak of who we are as a nation and as a people and in fact we are taught in school to take pride in our flag because it carries with it the very history of our nation.

         This brings us to the Gospel of today which simply means that our lives must take the form of a lamp that has been lighted up by the nature of Jesus contained in the Scriptures and empowered by the Holy Spirit such that we are to consider ourselves as a lampstand that will illumine not only our surroundings but more importantly those around us.

         The Word of God who is Jesus personified must be operative in our lives which means that we who have seen the light must now become the lamps that should proclaim the message of the Kingdom of God “𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕” (𝒗.16) and again we are reminded of our great commission (𝐌𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖) and that we are not to “𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏” (𝑬𝒑𝒉 4:30).        

To be sealed in the Holy Spirit means that we who have received the Word of God are mandated to act on it, to proclaim it because this is our primary responsibility as Christians and we are not stifle its proclamation lest we grieve the Holy Spirit who can take away even the little that we have which could even mean this life that we now live.

         What Jesus is emphasizing in this Gospel is that if we consider our lives as a lamp that has been lighted up by the Word of God then we must understand that we are not to hide and keep the light to ourselves, but we must show to the world the light that is in us. Our being Christians must become the banner that we must be proud of. Our transformed lives must mirror the banner that flutters proudly so that everyone can see not just the Christian in us but the Jesus in us who is in reality the True Light.

         In this Gospel we are being reminded that the Word of God does not only light up our lives, but it will help us grow as Christians. As with our bodies, our muscles grow stronger when these are exercised and unused muscles become weak and will become flabby.

         And it is our duty to shine so that others may also see the light. As we are commanded by Christ in 𝐌𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖, we are to witness, or we are to bring this light that we have received to others publicly and must not keep it to ourselves.

         What may, however, confound those who will read this Gospel is what Jesus said: “𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏.” (𝒗.18) But fear not because what Jesus was merely saying here was that we all must be careful in digesting what we hear because there are many deceptive messages in the world today that there is a danger that these deceptions is what we may be passing on to others.

         This actually should serve as a motivation for us to keep on learning, to keep on seeking the truth because what Jesus was saying in 𝐯.𝟏𝟖 is that if we stop learning, if we don’t proclaim the Word of God which is a way of exercising our Christian muscles, if we stop searching for the Kingdom of Heaven and, if we keep the light hidden from others even the little knowledge that we have will be taken away from us.

         At the end of the day, we should all ask ourselves are we proud of our Christian heritage? Are we proud of our faith that we have in Jesus that it impels us to proclaim the Word to others? Have our lives been transformed that we have become the light on a lampstand that others can come in and see the light? Do we take pride in displaying the Christian banner that reflects the presence of Christ in our lives? (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵. 22, 2025)