Word to the Wise
Monday, September 20, 2021 - Monday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezra 1:1-6 and Luke 8:16-18]"No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light." [Luke]
SEPTEMBER 20 ST. ANDREW KIM and Companions - Korean Martyrs
The evangelist Luke, in contrast to Matthew, wrote for an audience composed of Gentile converts to Christianity. He also composed it at some point after the destruction of Jerusalem. Scripture scholars date it between 80-90 A.D.. So, it would have come after the deaths of St. Paul and many of the other apostles and initial disciples of Jesus. The church by then would be very much a missionary church, reaching around the Mediterranean area of the Roman Empire. The church was also experiencing persecution of various kinds This gospel is meant to encourage and support the long term effort to preach the good news in the face of continual trials.
The image of the lamp on a lampstand appears twice in this gospel: 8:16 (today) and 11:33. There is a different nuance with each use, although the origin of this statement of Jesus came from the Gospel According to Mark. (4:21-22). In the passage for today, the emphasis is on the missionary effort to spread the word and not treat it as some kind of secret!! The second use (11:33) aims at the quality of the lamp and the light, speaking to the integrity of the missionary. After repeating the image, Luke then writes: "The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is sound, then your whole body is filled with light, but when it is bad, then your body is in darkness. Take care, then, that the light in you not become darkness. If your whole body is full of light, and no part of it is in darkness, then it will be as full of light as a lamp illuminating you with its brightness. (11:34-36).
I recall the statement of the communications guru, Marshall McCluhan, "The medium is the message!" When both the message and the messenger say the same thing, as Jesus did, a powerful preaching takes place. What kind of lamp are we? AMEN