Light came into the World

Wednesday, April 06, 2016

2nd Week of Easter 1stReading: Acts 5:17-26 Gospel: John 3:16-21

Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.

This is how the Judgment is made: Light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light and doesn’t come to the light for fear that his deeds will be shown as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God.

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Eyes accustomed to darkness need time to adjust to the light. Drivers, for example, slow down while moving from a dark street to a lighted one to give their eyes time to adjust. By analogy, people used to evil deeds need time to adjust to the ways of Christ. The period of adjustment can be very challenging and frustrating, depending on whether or not the transition is major or minor. It is a major transition if it involves a radical 180-degree turn from evil to good. It is minor if the shift is a matter of perfecting one’s spirituality. Whether major or minor, the shift is discouraging to the half-hearted.

Among the problems which even sincere people find hard to surmount are well-entrenched bad habits. “Habits are hard to remove” – so goes an old nursery rhyme. “If you remove letter H, you still have “a bit”; if you also remove letter A, you still have “bit”; if you further remove B, you still have “it”!” Deeply rooted habits can make the shift very difficult even to resolute people who are truly and sincerely repentant. Psychologists suggest the cultivation of good and productive habits. This works better than flogging old habits dead and beating them black and blue each time they attempt to resurrect. Focusing too much on bad habits is like anxiously putting off so many little fires sporadically breaking out in various places of one’s house. The nervousness kills you even before the conflagration gets full blown.

While cultivation of good habits suggested by psychologists assures higher degree of spiritual success, we must not forget that God alone can give success to the work of our hands. Relying on his grace, the shift is not impossible because with God, “nothing is impossible” (Matt. 19:26). —Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.

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