Let It Shine

25th Week in Ordinary Time - Monday (24 September 2018)

Proverbs 3:27-34

Luke 8:16-18

“No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No s/he puts it on a lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in.”

Some animals started a school. The school had classes in things animals do, swimming, flying, and running. The duck, a good swimmer, was asked to run, and soon became an average swimmer. The rabbit, good at running, broke his leg while trying to fly. The eagle, the top one in the flying class, was disabled for life when she tried to swim. By the end of the school term none of the animals were very good at anything.

God gave every one of us a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. The gospel often calls them talents. Those talents are not God’s gifts to us merely, they are God’s gifts to the world. Not all of us are equally gifted, but we all have the capability to shine the light God’s love entrusted to us. We might be limited in our talents and in our sphere of influence. But if we are faithful to them, our words and deeds may be exactly what others need in order to find their talents and gifts in their own hearts. It is the way friends and lovers, artists and cooks, academicians and surgeons, preachers and authors—the list of our talents is almost endless—enlighten and help one another in this world of ours.

As schooling is not (should not be!) an exercise of making all our children do the same things but developing their uniqueness, let our religious traditions help develop the uniqueness of each and every human soul. Let our faith help us grow in our uniqueness. Don't let schooling interfere with your education. Don't let your religion interfere with your spiritual growth and transformation. Know your strengths, recognize your talents, engage your abilities, develop your capacity to love, to console, and to support. As the first reading of today says, "Do not refuse a kindness to anyone who begs it, if it is in your power to perform it." Don’t put your light under a bowl or a basket. Let your light shine, please, let it shine!