Jesus told his disciples to let their light shine and not hide it under a bushel basket. Light easily overcomes darkness. It only takes the light of one candle to overcome the darkness of a room. So if we put our light on a lampstand—the light he gave us—darkness has no chance.
On this Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, we remember what a blessing she was to Jesus and to us. As the new year begins, we also take the opportunity, like Mary, to ponder the past and open ourselves to the future.
After Jesus foretold destruction, he reassured the crowd that they would be safe if they persevered. So whatever difficulty you face, know that Jesus stands by to help us, and we can be thankful at least for that.
While Jesus was teaching his disciples that he had to die, they were more concerned with who among them was the greatest. Jesus pointed out this disconnect and challenged them: ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’
Jesus told his disciples that in difficult times that were coming, they should not prepare how to defend themselves. The Spirit would give them the words they would need. In the same way, sometimes we need to empty our own hearts of the words we have prepared to say and let God speak through us.
