Thursday, May 30 (17), 2024
Acts 10:34-43; Jn. 8:12-20

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” [Jn. 8:12], says the Lord.  Thus, if anyone turns away from the Lord, he turns away from the light towards darkness, and therefore he is the real enemy of enlightenment.

You know the teachings of Christ, so watch out: as soon as someone says something against it, call him an enemy of enlightenment; that’s his right name.  The Lord says that God is one in essence and three in Persons; this is a glimpse of the divine light of truth, and who teaches contrary to this, leads us into darkness from the light: he is an enemy of enlightenment.  The Lord says that God in three Persons has created the world by His word and guides it by His Providence; this is the divine light which shines upon our sorrowful earthly ways with heavenly comfort, and who teaches contrary to this, leads us into the darkness of hopelessness: he is an enemy of enlightenment.  The Lord says that God created man in His image and likeness and ordained him to live in Paradise, and when man sinned, God justly expelled him from there to live on this earth, full of sorrows and afflictions.  His wrath, however, was not absolute; it was His good will to ordain the salvation of man through the Sacrifice of Love, through the death on the cross of His Incarnate Only-begotten Son, ─ and this is the spiritual light which dispels the moral darkness besetting our souls: who teaches contrary to this, leads us into the darkness, and he is certainly an enemy of enlightenment.

The Lord says: have faith, receive the power of Grace in the Holy Sacraments, live by My commandments, and you will be saved; this is the only way for God’s light to enter and enlighten us:  who teaches contrary to this, wants to keep us in darkness, and therefore is an enemy of enlightenment.  The Lord says: strive to enter through the narrow gate of austere life of self-denial: this is the only way to the light, and who leads us to the broad way of pleasures in fact leads us to darkness, and thus he is an enemy of enlightenment.  The Lord sais: remember your impending end ─ death, Judgment, hell and heaven ─ and this is the light which enlightens our future; who teaches that the death is the end of everything, pulls darkness over our lot, and therefore he is an enemy of enlightenment. 

Let those who love the light learn from these examples how to discern the darkness and how to avoid it.

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