A REMINDER FOR WHITSUNDAY

You are the Light of
the World
By Fr. Austin, C.P.
THE yearly commemoration of Golgotha's darkness is now a memory for 1959. It was banished. that darkness, when a lighted candle, the Paschal Candle. passed through our midst on Holy Saturday night.
With the words, "His are the times and ages. To Him be glory and dominion through all ages of eternity, Amen", the priest celebrating the Paschal Vigil cut the four figures of the present year into the wax of the candle. After invoking the protection and preservation of Christ through the merits of His Sacred Wounds over us all, the Candle was lighted with the words, "May the light of Christ in glory rising again dispel the darkness of heart and mind."
In a matter of moments the triumphant procession began. We rejoiced in the risen Saviour, our hearts lifted with joy at the sight of the Light of the World, we experienced a renewal of Faith, life's meaning was presented to us in a powerful symbol. Heaven opened up to us, the pain and the agony and the tears of Calvary had not been in vain.
And this Sunday, we shall see the " Light of Christ" beginning to spread through the world by means of the love, the sacrifices, the preaching of he Apostles. For Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit strengthened them to cry out to the world at large, "Jesus is the Light of the World."
Thinking
THE Paschal Candle burned brightly in our churches Sunday by Sunday. As we saw it lighted what thoughts passed through our minds 7 For us all, indeed, that candle told of the victory of Christ over death; told of His confounding His enemies. It was the glorious proof of His divinity. Yes, He did rise from the tomb.
Apart from this sentiment, or better, renewal of Faith, perhaps we thought of that glorious and wonderful period of peace in the life of the apostles, the period of the conversations about the Kingdom of God, the last messages, the final instructions.
Perhaps, we thought of beautiful spring mornings by the lake, the calamities, victorious though they were in the long run, of Calvary passed, darkness dispelled. But how many of us thought of the candle which was lighted in our own hands, lighted from the candle which symbolised the Risen Christ?
How many, one wonders, think now of themselves as the Light of the World? For that was an essential part of the message of the Easter Vigil. " You are the light of the world." And this is so in no vague manner, but in a really true sense, for by baptism we are one with Christ, and the light which is Christ must burn through our lives.
If you would appreciate the Feast of Pentecost, you must understand, make a reality in your own lives, this message of the Easter Vigil. For this is the hour of the light's spreading and we are all called in some way to play our part in this wonderful act of God's love for men.
Forgotten
0NE cannot help feeling that we apologise a little too much for our Faith. Perhaps such an attitude arises because of our forgetting the real meaning of the glory, the light which is ours. We look upon Christ as one Who, indeed, founded the true Church. But we separate that Church from the act of daily living. We think of Christ as leaving us simply certain truths to be believed. certain obligations to be fulfilled, certain devotions to cherish.
We forget that He came to give us life more abundant, to make us one with Himself. Yes, to make us the Light of the World. Very humble tittle candles in ourselves, but glorious with the Light of Grace, that is what we are.
Burning
THE Light of the World, which is Christ and which through that symbol of the lighted candles in our own hands tells the world and reminds us that we are one with Christ, must burn in every section of society. Christ must take over the classroom, the dockside, courtship, marriage, to mention only a few aspects of life and vocation. He must be the Light of society.
It is for this very reason that we were given an active participation in that ceremony, to remind us that we must make Christ the Light of those places, for only we can do it. If I do not allow Christ to take over my life, if I do not see the true meaning of my Faith in Christ, then society in the very sections which I occupy is in darkness, darkness brought about by not seeing myself as the Light of the World, shining before men.
Christ prays still through me to His Eternal Father, " Our Father . . thy kingdom come, thy Will be done on earth . . He prays and lives through me in the classroom, in the home, in the factory. Through me He longs still to be the Light of the World. These are points for us all to examine ourselves on very carefully. Oh, how often did we hear that voice now silent, the voice of the late Holy Father, calling for this conscious effort on the part of the layman.
The " specialised audienbes" which he held were not vague things. He saw the problem of the lay person today living in the world. And he called them together as doctors, housewives. teachers, nurses, footballers, to mention a few instances, and told then to sanctify themselves through their daily tasks and callings, sanctify themselves and he the Light of the World in those very professions.
The Paschal Candle burned in the Sanctuary. Through the layman it must burn in the streets and the world at large.
us that the light must spread, set the world on fire with the love of God. that term. The light of Christ must spread, the world must catch fire, the fire of God's Grace. If that is to take place then it must take place through those who are in the position to do so.
All must exercise an apostolate
; in some way, but in the strict sense, joining, perhaps, some organisation like the Legion of Mary, the Young Christian Workers, the Catholic Evidence Guild or the Catholic Social Guild (there are many more), there are so many capable and free so to exercise themselves.
Those joining such organisations must not think of themselves as " doing their little bit for the parish"; they must see themselves as fulfilling the desires, the redemptive desires of the Heart of Jesus.
They take the world on their shoulders, no matter how unworthy those shoulders happen to be. and the particular organisation is nothing else but a formal framework through which they may become in a very real sense the Light of the World.
They Use their organisations as a means for the redemptive Jesus to live in the modern world. They must feel sad at the darkness of this world, moved almost to tears by a weary world without the Light of Christ, which is the whole meaning of the life of man.
They look out over the world of the factory and the workshop, over the homes and the streets, over the crowds moving into the cinemas and the football grounds, over the hearts of all men, with a tremendous love and desire that these souls, all of them, will. one day, look upon the Blessed Vision of their Eternal Father,. Loving Redeemer and Anxious Sanctifier in Heaven.
But they do not simply look, they act, pass on the Light of Christ which is theirs, which they are. Are we too easy going on these matters? It is for us all to examine ourselves.
Perhaps, we could ask just one simple question, a general question. a question for all: What does the Catholic Enquiry Centre mean to me? Perhaps, that is a good test case.