by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Today’s Second Reading (Ephesians 5:8-14) urges us to “be like children of light”.
If we do, we will certainly see the effects: “complete goodness and right living and truth.” And remember, even when we drift from His loving arms, He waits patiently for us to return to Him, the Light of the World, because He is a God of mercy and compassion. As Pope Francis said in his apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel: “How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost!”
The Responsorial Psalm (Ps 23) reminds us that with the Lord as our shepherd, there is nothing we shall want.
This was my mother’s favourite Psalm. As Paul told the Corinthians (2 Cor 12:8), Jesus’ grace is “enough” for us. To truly benefit from His grace, we must develop a personal relationship with Him and allow Him to act in our lives. Children of light are expected to light up the world, to reach out to our neighbours in need, to break down unjust structures so that everyone can have a place at the table of life and realise his/her potential. Each one of us is expected to play our part to transform
the world – to promote justice, peace, truth, love, freedom, and forgiveness. To do so effectively, we need constantly to keep to the forefront of our minds the teachings of our Church. Watching religious films can help.
Many of you will have seen the film Son of God recently. Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez rightly said: “Son of God is a very important movie because it gives us the opportunity to realise God’s presence in our own lives, and that we are children of God.”
For some, the film may be seen as “ordinary” – compared with films such as The Ten Commandments and The Shoes of the Fisherman. It is certainly not as bloody as The Passion of the Christ. I found it to be a wonderful opportunity to deepen my faith and to gather and chat with other Catholics who were present. I can’t remember when last I saw a film that covers the period from Jesus’ birth to His death and Resurrection. There are some very powerful scenes in Son of God. You will recall the scene in which Peter is amazed at the number of fish that he caught when Jesus asked him to launch out into the deep and let down his nets. When they return to the shore, Peter asks Jesus: “What are we going to do?” Jesus replies: “Change the world.”
As one commentator said: “God sent His only Son to inspire us to change the world. Jesus comes to meet us. He walks into the water to Peter’s boat and wants to come into the boat, but waits until Peter extends his hand to Him, and when Peter does so, Jesus’ grace pours in…”
How many of you engaged in meaningful conversations with others about the various scenes in the film after viewing it? It is good that this film is being shown during Lent. As Pope Francis said on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a “journey of spiritual renewal in the footsteps of Christ…a ‘strong’ time of penance, prayer and conversion,” and a time “to live our baptism with greater profundity…In this time we are invited to be more aware of the wonders that the Lord does for our salvation.” He said the Church asks us, during this time, “to ponder with joy and gratitude God’s immense love” which is “revealed in the paschal mystery”.
Pope Francis urged us to resist “the pressure of a culture which thinks it can do without God, where parents no longer teach their children to pray, where violence, poverty and social decay are taken for granted…Lent is a time to recover the capacity to react before the reality of evil.” He said it is also a time “for personal renewal” and for “community” that “brings us closer to God”. It is “a suitable time to convert to be able to love our neighbour”.
He prayed that this Lent would “be a time when, as individuals and communities, we heed the words of the Gospel, reflect on the mysteries of our faith, practise acts of penance and charity, and open our hearts ever more fully to God’s grace and to the needs of our brothers and sisters… May the Lenten journey…bring us to Easter with hearts purified and renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
This renewal will help us to live as children of light.
