Let light in

Jn 3:14-21 Mar. 10

It’s been said that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Though a modern chemist or doctor might dispute that, the general thrust is still true: A great deal of the world’s ills are healed by exposing them to the light of truth. That message tracks with our Gospel theme, as we celebrate Laetare Sunday. In it, the Lord tells Nicodemus that those who want healing and prefer goodness will pursue the light of truth, which nourishes and brings life. (Jn 3:14-21)

We see this concept everywhere in our world today: Calls for transparency show that, too often, what goes on behind closed doors or in dark rooms is not good. Where the truth is not allowed, the surrounding culture withers like a plant in the shade. Be it in the world of business, medicine, politics or even the church, it’s necessary to let the light in.

This is more true for the spiritual life. Our faith is a process of enlightenment and correcting the vision of our minds and hearts. Jesus himself says that he is the light of the world. It’s a spiritual light that purifies our intellects and wills and heals our souls. Since that’s true, it means that we need to “see” things in Christ if we want to see the world as it really is.

After all, physically speaking, everything we see is light. When we see a tree or a car or another person, we see it via the light reaching our eyes. No light, no vision. Moreover, everyone who has ever navigated a dark room in the middle of the night knows that wandering in darkness is dangerous. Without light, we stumble about and inevitably bruise a shin or a toe, or worse, step on a Lego. It ends in wailing and gnashing of teeth. The same is true if our minds and hearts aren’t enlightened with Christ. If we don’t see things clearly or as they really are, we bruise ourselves and others, we sin, we fall. It’s the same story in both body and soul.

The verses that begin our Gospel passage act as an invitation to correct our vision by reminding us where a cure can be found and how to let the light in. The famous John 3:16 passage is found everywhere (and frequently painted under an athlete’s eyes). “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.” The light comes streaming in through Christ.

Are our eyes able to take it in? Not at first. We need redemption, a sort of spiritual laser eye surgery. That’s where the cross comes in, upon which Jesus is lifted up like the bronze serpent in the desert. Jesus gives Nicodemus that image for a reason. In Numbers 21, the people defy God, and sin and death slither into their camp, followed closely by actual venomous serpents. In looking upon a bronze serpent, the people are forced to confront an image of their own sins, but also receive God’s mercy. The same is true when we gaze on the cross. We confront an image of the cause of sin (our humanity) and its effects in the wounded body of Christ. But we also see the light of redemption in God’s love welling through the hope of forgiveness and the Resurrection. So long as we focus on that light, our eyes will be healed, and we’ll see aright. Look to Christ and the cross and let the light in.

Laetare Sunday is known for its rose-colored vestments. I often like to reflect on the color change from the usual Lenten purple as something of a sunrise. The increasing light can transform even the darkest clouds into something beautiful on the horizon, from the darkness of sin to the purple of penitence, and today to the rose of hope won through the blood of the cross. Christ our Lord comes shining through with a ray of hope today. The light conquers the darkness. Moreover, if we keep our eyes on the Lord lifted high on the cross this Lent, our vision will be purified and we’ll see the son rise in the glory of the Resurrection, too. All the world will be beautiful and nourished in that light.

Fr. Miserendino is chaplain at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.