The light of Christ; thanks be to God!
Tonight
we celebrate a number of things. Tonight we celebrate our history as God’s
people. Tonight we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus the
Christ. Tonight we renew our baptismal vows. Tonight we celebrate light and
life – for all the world.
The church has long used candles to
represent the light of Christ present in our lives. They are mystical, they are
a source of focused joy; tonight as we kindle the new fire we mark that we are
moving our of the darkness of Lent to the brightness of Easter. As St. Paulinus
in the 4th century declared, noting the numerous candles in the
church: “They
shine by night and day; thus night is radiant with the brightness of the day,
and the day itself, bright in heavenly beauty, shines yet more with light
doubled by countless lamps"
And the flame is there before us,
burning brightly. It shines into every corner, just as the Gospel illumines
every corner of the world. The flame can ignite other flames, without losing
any part of itself, just as our faith can ignite someone else’s faith, without
diminishing anything that we have. The flame provides light, assuring us of
spiritual protection, just as light offers safety – keeping away those with
dark intentions and protecting us from stumbling.
There
are many types of light in our world these days, and so we often forget about
what darkness truly meant in the ancient world. Candles were expensive; the oil
and wax not always easy to come by. And so darkness was known. When the sun
went down, doors were locked and people rested. When the sun came up again –
what joy to greet a new day. Today, our relationship with light is different:
we have switches on our walls that instantly and unendingly bring blaring light
into every room in our homes. We have flashlights that allow us to easily – and
safely – carry light with us. Our use of candles is now mostly decorative, our
reliance on the flame almost non-existant.
Yet for us as Christians, we are
called to remember the significance of the candle. It is symbol, it is
representation; it speaks of the promise of light, and of our share in that
light. While some folks may not understand the paschal candle to be more than a
nice tradition, or the individual baptismal candles to be more than a souvenir,
we of faith know. We know that these candles mean there is light in the world,
a light that the Resurrection assures us will never go out. We know that we are
invited to walk in that light – with all the protection that entails. We know
that these candles are not merely ornamental, but sacramental; bridging for us
the distance between the ordinary and the divine.
Tonight we celebrate the light of
Christ – resplendent, shining, amazing – kindled in the new fire, maintained in
our paschal candle, burning deep within us. May we celebrate the gift given us
at our baptism: to receive the light of the Risen Christ – and all that it
entails – to show that we have passed from darkness into light. May that light
so shine before others that they will see our good works, and glorify our
Father in heaven.
The light of Christ – alive and
inspiring and ever-present – thanks be to God indeed!
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