RBWords

     As part of the ceremony of baptism, the parents and godparents are handed a lighted candle with the words, "This light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly!"  All of us who have been baptized have been given the "light of Christ."  The question, raised by Jesus, is what we do with it.

 

     One of the most frequent complaints I hear from parents and grandparents is the loss of faith in their children and grandchildren.  The faith that parents and grandparents cherish seems to have no impact in the children and grandchildren.  "Where did we go wrong?"  Why is that light not burning brightly?  At best there are the usual baptism/first communion/confirmation events and then - nothing.  These events become something in the past, as in the expression I used to hear (and still hear): "I got my sacraments at St.________Church."  This sounds more like vaccination than motivation!

 

     I cannot pretend to have a final answer to this except to ask if the "light of Christ" is something not only external to us, as a light in a room, but "internal" to us.  In other words, even if we "practice" the faith, do we really make it a part of our world of understanding so that we cannot imagine living without faith?  Jesus warns us that what little faith we have can be taken away from us if we do not share it with others.  If we allow our secular and consumer oriented lifestyle to "snuff out" the light, we will have less and less reason to live a life of faith.  One way to remind ourselves is to recall that song, "This little light of mine.  I'm gonna let it shine...."  AMEN