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Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

JESUS, LIGHT FORTHE WORLD

Livingthe Gospel

Today

Social JusticeSunday

Statement2005

On behalf of the Australian Catholic Social JusticeCouncil, I present the Social Justice Sunday Statementfor 2005, Jesus, Light for the World – Living the GospelToday.

The light of the Risen Christ illuminates our lives –transforming the day-to-day realities of our worldand bringing hope to situations of human tragedyand seemingly insurmountable despair.

An old Vietnamese woman who died recently inSydney knew about the darkness and also of greatlight. Many years ago her son left Vietnam. As ayoung priest he studied canon law in Rome. When hereturned home he found himself caught up in theviolence that eventually became the Vietnam war.With the fall of Siagon he was thrown into prison. Hewas held in solitary confinement for nine of the 13years he was imprisoned.

His spirit should have been broken, but it wasn’t. Hisfaith, prayer and the occasional celebration of Massgave him a peace and strength that his guardscouldn’t understand. Even in the darkness of prison,he shone a light both gentle and powerful.

Eventually he was released and allowed to go toRome where he was made President of the PontificalCouncil for Justice and Peace. Cardinal Nguyen Van

Thuan died in 2002. In many respects the story of theCardinal and his family is exceptional. But it is a storythat resonates with those of many people who havecome to our shores after enduring great violence andhardship. The stories of so many of these Australiansreflect the resilience of the human spirit and thepower of faith. They give us a deeper appreciation ofthe peace and prosperity our nation enjoys.

This statement brings to each of us the Word of Godand reminds us of the baptismal call we share tobring this Good News to the world. We are called, notjust to follow the light, but to be the light for others.We are called to bring Christ’s light to all people,serving them in their need and celebrating their joysand hopes.

With every blessing

Christopher A. Saunders, DDBishop of BroomeChairmanAustralian Catholic SocialJustice Council

2 Social Justice Sunday Statement 2005

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference thanks all who have been involved in the drafting, editing, and production ofthe 2005 Social Justice Sunday Statement. An electronic version of the Statement is available on the ACBC website at

www.acbc.catholic.org.au and the ACSJC website at www.socialjustice.catholic.org.auProduction Editor: Bruce Pollock Typesetting and page make-up: Graphic Type

Printing: Lindwall and Ward Pictures donated by photolibrary.comCover pictures: [centre] The Resurrection, by Lyn Constable Maxwell,

sculptor, St Gregory the Great Catholic Parish, Alresford, Hampshire, UK;[bottom left] AAP/Dave Hunt © 2005 AAP; other photos courtesy of photolibrary.com.

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assembly of the bishops of our nation and the body through which

they act together in carrying out the Church's mission at a national

level. The ACBC website at www.acbc.catholic.org.au gives a full list

of Bishops Conference committees as well as statements and other

items of news and interest.

Chairman’s message

JESUS, LIGHT FOR THE WORLDLiving the Gospel Today

3Social Justice Sunday Statement 2005

We have a light. It shines for ourlives, but it also attracts others whoare in need. We cannot know whowill come, when, or why, but our

light offers a glimmer of hope. Will we answerthe door, will we hear the knock, will we be thelight?

Jesus is the light of our lives. He is light for ourfootsteps and the guide for our path. As wewalk in the light we give it a chance to shine inour world. How today are we light for theworld? How does the light of Christ transform

the darkness and emptiness in our lives? In thistransformation we become more alive to thehope and joy in our hearts.

More directly, though, we need to ask how doesthe light that illumines our thoughts and actionsremind us of our call to cast that same light intothe pain and anxiety of those around us? Howdoes the light of Christ help us to see andcherish the hopes and joys of the men andwomen we meet? As light for the world we takeup the challenge of what it means to live theGospel today.

It was the fourth-last house at the edge of the town as the highway headed south. Thefamily that lived there had small children so there was always a light on somewhere in

case one of the little ones was a bit sick or afraid. That practical light brought some calmto the home and a feeling of safety. But it could be seen from the outside too.

Some nights a stranger in need would call, drawn by the light and thinking if there wasa light on then there was someone awake who could help. And the husband and wife

would have to wake and decide whether to answer, knowing that the light that kept thechildren secure had attracted others in distress or possible danger.

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Jesus Christ our light

Jesus is not just a teacher of light who leads usalong a path of enlightenment which we take bydint of our own efforts. Jesus is the light of theworld. Light streams from what he says anddoes.

In his public ministry, Jesus brought to thepeople of his time a way of seeing and actingthat both surprised and comforted them. Herevisited their deepest customs and practices,gave them a freshness and relevance, andoffered the people new insight into the meaningof their lives together. Different Gospel storiesopen this up for us.

The cure of a sick womanWhile on his way to cure a young girl Jesus wastouched by a woman who had suffered for 12years from bleeding (Lk 8:40-56). Her conditionwas incurable and her life unliveable. Shereached from the darkness to touch the lightwhich was her only hope, and she was healed.But why was she so ashamed, so keen to remainanonymous? The sickness in her body left her anoutcast in her world.

The constant bleeding meant she was rituallyunclean and so unable to live outher faith. She was a person to beavoided because anyone whocame into contact with her alsorisked becoming unclean. Even inthe midst of the crowd, she wasalone. Yet amidst all the fuss andexcitement, Jesus recognised hertouch.

We know he was moved and responded to herneed. We know that in his presence sheovercame her fear and anxiety. We know thatJesus declared that she was a woman of faith,although the crowd and the law would havethought otherwise. Further we know that Jesustook the time to attend to a powerless, sick andoutcast woman while he was being bustledalong to help out the only child of a synagogueofficial. In fact he took so much time with thewoman that he came too late because the childhad died. As the story recalls the child’s returnto life we are aware that the woman with thehaemorrhage is the only person in the entirenarrative who is praised for her faith.

This story is more than an account of thephysical healing. The miracle of Jesus shines a

light on the treatment and place of themarginalised and dispossessed in society, thetaboos that were part and parcel of their lives,the fear that was placed around them and thedeadly isolation that could result. Jesus gaveboth the unnamed woman and the official’sdaughter a future. He also offered the people ofthe town a new way to see, shedding light intheir darkness.

The hungry, the thirsty, the naked, thestranger

Matthew’s Gospel reveals the depth of Jesus’concern for the poor, the hungry and theneglected. As his death is approaching,inevitably and painfully, Jesus’ thoughts areelsewhere. His final teaching to his closestfollowers is about the poor, the hungry, thethirsty, the naked, the stranger (Mt 25:31-46). Hebuilds the scene at the final judging of thenations and has the King set all of the people ofthe earth to ask themselves:

When was it that we saw you hungry orthirsty? When was it that we saw you astranger; naked; sick or in prison?

The answer that leads to eternal life has anumber of facets. It involves feeding the hungry,

offering drink to the thirsty,clothing the naked, visiting thesick and imprisoned. Theresponse of the King dismantlesany attempt to keep charity andcare within restricted circles. Heextends it even to the least amongmen and women, and in doing somakes the surprising revelation

that the greatest of all identifies completely withthese lowest of the low:

I tell you truly, just as you did it to one of theleast of these who are members of my family,you did it to me.

The people who showed compassion to the leasthad actually begun to build the Kingdom of Godon earth and so are called to take their place ineternal life.

As Jesus approaches death, his closing words tohis disciples are to care for the poor. We too arecharged to help the destitute of any nation orrace or belief. We are to be their light, and intaking up their suffering and bringing themhope, we encounter the light.

Jesus, Light for the World


❛Jesus is the light of theworld. Light streamsfrom what he says anddoes.❜

We cannot do this without seeking out anduprooting the causes of poverty, as we also dealwith its symptoms.

At the Second Vatican Council the bishops of theworld called us to build a new world “foundedon truth, built on justice, and enlivened by love:it should grow in freedom towards a morehumane equilibrium. If these objectives are to beattained there will first have to be a renewal ofattitudes and far-reaching social changes”.1

Recognising the light in others

Jesus took great care to remind his disciples thatrespect and love for one another ought to extendbeyond his band of followers.

When Jesus cured the 10 lepers, it was thedespised Samaritan foreigner who taught themeaning of thankfulness and praise (Lk 17:11-19). The disciples were amazed when theyreturned to find Jesus standing deep inconversation with a feisty Samaritan woman atthe village well (Jn 4).

They could not see any point in this: What do youwant? Why are you speaking with her? Yet Jesusrecognised the light in her and she became thefirst person in the Gospel of John to recognisehis light and call others to it.

Indeed, one of the most powerful descriptions ofthe light of Christ in all human beings andcreation is found at the opening of the Gospel ofJohn:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Wordwas with God, and the Word was God. He wasin the beginning with God. All things came intobeing through him, and without him not onething came into being. What has come intobeing in him was life, and the life was the lightof all people (Jn 1:1-4).

The Gospel message of Jesus sheds light on ourown times and guides us to see that we areinvolved in a common quest. Creation andhuman society are infused with the light and lifeof Christ. While we are bearers of the light wecan also learn from our sisters and brothersmore of what it is to live in the light.

Living the Gospel Today


❛The people who showedcompassion to the leasthad actually begun tobuild the Kingdom ofGod on earth.❜

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A spirituality for justiceIn Matthew’s Gospel we find a saying from Jesusthat is both arresting and beguiling: Blessed arethe poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven(Mt 5:3). Jesus is offering the crowds aspirituality for living out justice. The teaching isan attempt to show how God looks upon ourworld, assesses it and consequently offersblessing to the “poor”.

When Jesus was asking the peopleto be “poor in spirit” he waschallenging them to go beyondthemselves. They were invited tostand before the poverty, misery,violence, pettiness and corruptionthat over and over again afflictedtheir brothers and sisters. Toembrace poverty of spirit meantthat they had no choice but to beaware of the darkness and to lookat their own actions and lives inthe same revealing light.As they sat listening on the hillside the peoplewere entitled to ask: how is this a part of thereign of God, how is such humility a blessing?Jesus taught them to see the world throughGod’s eyes. Doesn’t God’s love stretch toembrace the world without backing away frominjustice, evil, fear and indifference? Jesushimself did this when he grieved over thehardheartedness of the religious leaderssymbolised by the city of Jerusalem:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills theprophets and stones those who are sent to it!How often have I desired to gather your childrentogether as a hen gathers her brood under herwings, and you were not willing (Mt 23:37).

Despite this insight he still turned towardsJerusalem, where he would face persecution anddeath (Mt 16:21).

What then was the blessing? In part it was tolove more as Jesus himself loved. The blessingwas also that the reign of God would be madepresent in all places and all times. This implied afurther blessing, to be fulfilled in God’s time.God’s own justice required that those who are

poor in spirit be rewarded. Theywould not be abandoned. Thiswas an act of hope since still, likeJesus, they had to travel the roadto Jerusalem. Yet, through thepromise of the Resurrection, theblessing had already begun.

Jesus’ beatitude challenges ustoday. As followers of Jesus wecannot close our eyes to the biggerpicture and its overwhelmingissues. Nor do we have a choice in

facing up to the “ordinary” behaviour that is apart of our lives.

We live and work in very human systems. Thereare constant pressures which can drain ourresolve to act fairly, to protect the weak, to takeup our part in leadership that would ensurejustice for those in need. It can be demoralisingto see these dynamics played out. And it isdisturbing to know that we are a part of this andinadvertently in collusion with it.

Jesus drew attention to the needs of the pooreven as he was facing his own death. Just as heshed light through his words and actions, so weare called to stretch our love to encompass whatis unjust, bring it to light and transform itaccording to God’s reign.



❛We are called to stretchour love to encompasswhat is unjust, bring itto light and transform itaccording to God’sreign.❜

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Light for our world

When we are able to place something in thelight, other things become illuminated as well.There are many situations of injustice that wecome across in our everyday lives. And there arenumerous ways in which we are and can be thelight of Christ in our world.

We have access to so much information aboutinjustice and about stories of hope. The scope ofsome of the major problems of our world, fromenvironmental degradation, to violence, torefugees, can leave us feeling stunned andoverwhelmed. We find ourselves either too tiredto care, or turning against causes because we donot have the time or energy to respond. Theaffluence of our society can also obscure theseharsh realities of our world. Yet the world andespecially the poor need the light.

Waste and want: a world out ofbalance

In 2003, James Wolfensohn, the then president ofthe World Bank, made the point: “In our worldof six billion people, one billion own 80 per centof global gross domestic product (GDP), whileanother billion struggle to survive on less than adollar a day. This is a world out of balance.”2

In such a world, and so distant from some of themore desperate regions, we waste so much.Ours is a throw-away culture. The easiestexample is to look at the food we waste, whetherit is just sitting in the freezer, or the back of acupboard, or if it has gone bad because we keptit too long. Have we lost a sense of the value offood because it is plentiful? Has the variety andavailability of so many items left us too pickywithout regard for the values involved?



❛We have to ask whetherwe can simply keepmaking and abandoningso many goods. Are theysimply to becomelandfill?❜

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Similarly, we can turn the same spotlight on tothe way we use energy and the ways we wasteit. We are prone to leave electrical appliances on,use petrol for unnecessary trips, switch on theair-conditioning at the first level of discomfort.More energy-efficient goods are becomingavailable, but that does not guarantee that ouruse of them will be more efficient.

All these things have a cost, one that is usuallyhidden and which we do not always consider.The amount of food wasted also means thatthere has been a waste of water, chemicalfertiliser, transport, labour, and an amount ofdepletion of the land itself. We know the sameapplies to metals, recyclable plastics and energy.Our use and waste of goods can posefundamental questions about whether we liveon God’s earth or whether we simply live off itand will one day exhaust it.

Our waste takes other forms also. How manyold television sets, cassette players, mobilephones, computers or printers do we have lyingaround the home and workplace?

As technology develops our machines becomeredundant, opening up two separate sets ofquestions. We have to ask whether we cansimply keep making and abandoning so manygoods. Are they simply to become landfill? Oncewe see them as disposable we are inclined toforget that they contain components and metalsthat are recyclable. We cannot consign so muchto the junk heap without asking whether weneeded to upgrade, or who else could use theseitems.

Then there are questions about the value of thesetechnological changes. Some advances are realtechnological innovations, while others offerlittle improvement to our quality of life and easeof work. As people who are immersed intechnology, all Australians have a part to play indetermining how our lives are affected by it andwho can share in its benefits.

It is difficult to think through the impact of theamount of waste, rubbish and junk we readilyput out of sight. An Australian study on ourhabits uncovered a culture of waste, reportingthat we spend more than $10 billion a year onproducts and services we do not use, including$5 billion on food that is ultimately thrown out.The figures are conservative, and we probablywaste much more.3



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If all of creation is God’s gift, then where in ourhomes, parishes, schools, workplaces andcommunities can we shine a light on the way webuild, buy, use and discard things?

Never enough time

If a life of affluence means a culture of waste, itcan also mean a culture of busyness. The feelingthat life has become frenetic and emptyresonates across our cities and towns. We alwayshave to be busy, because if the busyness stopsthere’ll only be the boredom. The busy world ofwork and pressures to have a successful careercan also leave us with less time for family andfriends.

Yet the things we are busy about are notnecessarily related to our basic need for food,shelter, health and education. They are moreabout a certain quality of life and level ofaffluence for ourselves and our children.

Yet the pursuit of these is not bringing uscomfort, peace of mind or freedom from anxiety.Nor is our lifestyle bringing us health orhappiness.

As a society, we suffer from high rates ofdepression and anxiety, turning to prescriptiondrugs at record levels. The types and amounts ofmedication that we give to our children are asign that things are not right in our lives. Therates of separation and divorce tell us thatfamilies are under strain and our relationshipsare increasingly fragile.

If Australians were to undergo a health checkwe could well be diagnosed as suffering fromthe ravages of the disease of affluence. Somemay be more mildly affected than others, but thesickness is pervasive and we are all its victims.The question for us as Christians is whether weare to be found among the patients, or with thehealers and carers.

Do our labour-saving devices give us moreopportunity to love? Do our extra new clothesmake us more beautiful? Do our computergames make us more understanding? Do ouripods leave us more creative? They all cancontribute to love, beauty, understanding andcreativity, yet our culture is such that we oftenlose these values as we are taken up with thethings themselves.



❛The busy worldof work andpressures to havea successfulcareer can alsoleave us with lesstime for familyand friends...Do our laboursaving devicesgive us moreopportunity tolove?❜

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Jesus, the light of the world, warned againstrelying too heavily on the riches of this world:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures onearth, where moth and rust consume and wherethieves break in and steal; but store up foryourselves treasures in heaven, where neithermoth nor rust consumes and where thieves donot break in and steal. For where your treasureis, there your heart will also be (Mt 6:19-21).

No heart can remain intact and loving if itcounts as treasure what can be rusted, broken orstolen. To reach beyond the things themselves toclaim and embody the deeper values is to belight in the darkness that wealth can bring.

Looking beyond ourselvesAmong the dark effects ofgreed, waste and anxiety we canbecome inward looking andselfish. On the other hand, theeffect of the light is to allow usto see ourselves and also to seebeyond. The light of Christsearches, discovers andilluminates. It uncovers thelarger world in which we live.

As a people vitally concerned about the reign ofGod, we stretch our love to embrace the hungryand needy on every part of the globe, and toevery aspect of life on the planet. We can do thisbecause we have the means to help. We shoulddo this because in Christ we are their means ofhelp. We need to do this because in them wemeet the divine.

The monks and nuns living in the earliest desertmonasteries recognised this. The doorkeepersheld one of the most important positions. Whenpilgrims and poor alike were met at the doorwith warm hospitality they felt a sense of beingwelcomed by Christ into his home. To the visitorthe doorkeeper was Christ. Yet the one whomade the outsider welcome also felt a sense ofChrist present in the stranger, the wanderer, thehungry, the ill. To the doorkeeper the visitor wasChrist.

We are like those doorkeepers. The light weshare is not for us only, nor is it restricted to ourown country. The light of Christ within usilluminates the needs of others beyond ourborders and calls us to assist. The light we holdalso attracts others in need. People beyond ourshores look to us for help because they are

drawn in hope by what wehave, both spiritually andmaterially. Their hunger,injustice, struggles for freedomand demands for human rightsare ours too.

Along with others, the role thatAustralia took in dismantlingapartheid in South Africatestifies to the power of shining

a spotlight on injustice and oppression. Ouroverwhelming response to the victims of theIndian Ocean tsunami shed light on our valuesand compassion. We cannot turn a blind eye tothe great issues facing our world, fromenvironmental degradation to refugees to war,failed states and ethnic violence. For manypeople the light we offer unknowingly is theironly hope.



❛People beyond our shoreslook to us for help becausethey are drawn in hope bywhat we have, bothspiritually and materially.❜

i n the spirit of peace and justice, Caritas Australiaworks in partnership with some of the mostdisadvantaged members of our global

community to alleviate poverty and inequality.

Everyday, Caritas projects help people to helpthemselves to become empowered and self reliant.

By becoming a Caritas hopegiver and giving monthly,you can help our global family in need to have a brighter future.

Please call Caritas Australia on 1800 024 413 or visit www.caritas.org.au

hope…hope…



But just as those monastery doorkeepersrecognised that the visitor was Christ, so we alsoare transformed by our actions for the poor. Theextraordinary examples of service of importantfigures in our faith show us this.

Mary MacKillop saw how children on themargin were being condemned to the darknessof ignorance. Rather than just shrug hershoulders, Mary gathered a group of womenaround herself. They went as light-bearers whereno-one else would go.

Mother Teresa was an Albanian woman who didthe same in the gutters of Calcutta, where theunwelcome lay dying. She welcomed them inthe name of Jesus, and she still burns as a brighttorch in the darkness of poverty.

Jean Vanier, the Canadian founder of L’Arche,welcomed those who are mentally andphysically handicapped into the embrace of his

communities. Those whom some found aburden, he recognised as a gift.

These are among the witnesses of our faith whoremind us of how much they were inspired andchanged by the people they came to help. At thesame time as we offer light to others in need,those we serve bring us new light and teach usto see more and to love more.

The Gospel message for today

Jesus opens our perspectives on the experienceof the hungry, the poor, the imprisoned andestranged. The wastefulness and “busyness”prevalent in our society turned our minds toquestions of values, environmental degradation,recycling and patterns of ill health. This is anelementary part of the ongoing challenge tobring the Gospel to the world.

❛When pilgrims andpoor alike were met atthe door with warmhospitality they felt asense of beingwelcomed by Christinto his home.❜

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The Church in the world today

There is nothing new about the active concern ofthe Church in these areas. This year marks the40th anniversary of one of the documents of theSecond Vatican Council, the “Church in theModern World”. It set the grounds for ourcurrent actions for justice and peace across theearth and in our hearts. The scope of thisteaching from the world’s bishops isextraordinary.

As we read it we are reminded by them that thehuman race possesses more wealth now thanever before, but that a large part of the world’spopulation is still tormented by hunger and verymany cannot read or write. We have placedbefore us the fact that our global community isbitterly divided around race, politics, socialdissension and economic inequality.

The bishops raised a number of particular issuesfor us to act on and bring about change. Theysupported the appeal of the hungry to thewealthy, the claims of women to equality in lawand reality, and the cry of labourers andagricultural workers for a place in society. Theywanted us to work for changes to cultivate thedignity of all human beings (para 9).

The document speaks of the pressing obligationon us to be a neighbour to every singleindividual, whether he or she be old andabandoned, a foreign worker, an exile, anillegitimate child or someone who is starving. Itreiterates our obligation to defend human lifeitself and the integrity of the person (para 27).

The opening paragraph has given us one of themost memorable statements from the Council:

The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of thepeople of our time, especially of those who arepoor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the griefand anguish of the followers of Christ as well.Nothing that is genuinely human fails to findan echo in their hearts (para 1).

In their concluding statement, the bishops insistthat “Christians can yearn for nothing moreardently than to serve the people of this agesuccessfully with increasing generosity” (para93). The point is clear: Christians are called to beservants. And it is humanity that they are calledto serve.

The Christian life can never be a flight fromhumanity, with all its joys and hopes andsorrows and anxieties, in order to find andworship the divinity.



❛Under the Sign of theCross we are all children ofGod, baptised Christianscalled to worship.❜

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In order to find and worship the divinity,Christians must serve humanity. This is one ofthe main reasons why Christianity can never bebanished to some private world, as if it had onlyto do with the individual.

Christianity is about the whole world in all itsaspects. It is about humanity with all its joys andhopes, all its sorrows and anxieties. This is whyChristians resist the pressure to denyChristianity – or any religion for that matter – aplace in the public domain or the right to speakon issues of public concern.

In one of his first sermons, PopeBenedict XVI reiterated the roleof the Church in the modernworld:

The Church today must revivewithin herself an awareness ofthe task to present the worldagain with the voice of theOne who said: “I am the lightof the world; whoever followsme will not walk in darknessbut will have the light of life.” In undertakinghis ministry, the new Pope knows that his taskis to bring the light of Christ to shine before themen and women of today: not his own light butthe light of Christ.4

In speaking these words, he was committinghimself to a ministry of service to humanity bybringing the light of Christ to the world.

At the beginning of his papacy, the Holy Fatherreminds us that to live as a follower of Christtoday – to accept Christ in faith and each day inour lives – is to be light to the world.

The Eucharist as LightIn the Eucharist we gather, priests and peopletogether, an assembly drawn from differentplaces, languages, education and experiences.Under the Sign of the Cross we are all childrenof God, baptised Christians called to worship.The differences we find so important in ourlives, whether of status or wealth or background,mean nothing when seen from the perspective ofGod. We gather under a different light that bothreveals us as members of the body of Christ andreveals to us what our membership entails.

Together we listen to the wordof God. In our hearing Jesus,the light of the world, draws usinto different situations andunderstandings using stories,poetry, song, response andteachings. These many voicesfrom the past are brought intoour present in the homily, andapplied to the poor and needyof the entire world in theintercessions. Each celebration

of the liturgy of the word offers us light, either tobring us further into its ambit or to bring outmore clearly the things we are most reluctant tosee.

Through the Eucharist we become more fully thebody of Christ. Each Sunday we are made andremade into his body through the gifts we bring,the thanksgiving we offer, the blessing of thebread and cup and our communion in the Bodyand Blood of Christ. It is God’s doing that we aremembers of Christ’s body. Through the power ofthe Holy Spirit, the bread and the wine becomeGod’s gift, as is the Holy Communion we share.



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❛The Holy Father remindsus that to live as a followerof Christ today – to acceptChrist in faith and eachday in our lives – is to belight to the world.❜

We are brought to recognise thatcommunion in God involvescommunion in each other since itis the one Bread and the one Cupin which we are invited to share.We can be challenged to givewitness to the communion wehave with those who are poor andsuffering in our world.

Saint Ambrose, the great fourthcentury Bishop of Milan, spokewords of fire to rich people whothought they were fulfilling theirreligious duty by coming to church withoutsharing their goods with the poor, and whoperhaps even exploited them:

You who are rich, do you hear what the LordGod says? Yet you come into church not to giveto the poor but to take instead.5

Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop ofConstantinople in the late fourth and early fifthcenturies, is no less demanding:

Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Donot ignore him when he is naked. Do not payhim homage in the temple clad in silk only thento neglect him outside where he suffers cold and

nakedness. He who said: “This ismy body” is the same One whosaid: “You saw me hungry andyou gave me no food,” and“Whatever you did to the leastof my brothers you did also tome ...” What good is it if theEucharistic table is overloadedwith golden chalices, when he isdying of hunger? Start bysatisfying his hunger, and thenwith what is left you may adornthe altar as well.6

These words were spoken long ago, but theyremain fresher than ever in this Year of theEucharist which provides us with addedimpetus to take up the justice dimensions at thecore of our celebration of Mass.

Our participation in the Eucharist transforms us,and in the rites of dismissal we resolve to be anew light in our communities and our world. Weare marked again and again each Lord’s Day bywhat it means to gather in the Spirit, to fallunder the word, to offer the great thanksgivingsacrifice, and to enter into communion. We havehad an experience of the light and beentransformed into the light, a light for others.



❛We have a host ofwitnesses who show usthat something can bedone. They are people whohave borne the lightrather than simply cursethe darkness.❜

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Living in the light

The call to live the Gospel today, to bring thesaving light of Christ to the challenges of themodern world, can be daunting. But asChristians we have a host of witnesses whoshow us that something can be done. They arepeople who have borne the light rather thansimply curse the darkness.

The stories of inspiring witnesses like MaryMacKillop, Teresa of Calcutta and Jean Vanierare well known. Their service to humanity, ofrecognising Christ in those they serve, is a greatexample of how we can bring light into thedarkness.

There are millions of others who are not famousbut who bring the Gospel message of Christ.They too are witnesses to us.

An Australian bishop has written:

Every time I visit a prison, I am struck by thewives and girlfriends lined up (often with twoor three little children in tow) to visit theirpartners “inside”.

Prisons are very impersonal, unwelcomingplaces for all concerned and often visitors aretreated with the same lack of dignity that theprisoners themselves experience. On face value,many of the women visitors appear to be apretty rough lot, if they are judged by externals.But I never cease to admire them for theirfidelity, for the huge effort that many of them

make to travel to the prison, for their seeminglack of any sort of judgemental attitude, for theirdevotion and their love.

I might add, their sense of humour must becalled upon in a thousand different ways. I don’tknow how many of them would regardthemselves as religious but surely they areliving up to Jesus’ plea: “I was in prison andyou came to see me.” (Matt 25:35)

All of this prompts me to compare them to thefaithful women who stood beside the Cross tocomfort Jesus as he was dying.7

In their own way, these women are no lesswitnesses to the light of Christ than those whosenames we know better. They say to us thatsomething can be done. We find in their witnessan urgent call to build the Kingdom of God inour world.

We are called to Christ, who is the light of theworld. His actions and teachings opened theeyes of the people of his time, and they continueto open our eyes to the workings of God and themeaning of the reign of God.

As the people of God and the disciples of Jesus,we are to bring hope in our actions for justice,our advocacy for the poor, our care for the earth,our encouragement of our brothers and sisters,and our rejection of pessimism. In this we buildthe Kingdom of God and are privileged to gazeon God’s face in the poor, the hungry, theimprisoned, the naked and the stranger.



Endnotes1. Gaudium et spes, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the

Modern World, December 1965, para 26; in Austin Flannery,ed, Vatican Council II Constitutions, Degrees and Declarations,A completely revised translation; Dublin: DominicanPublications, 1995.

2. James D. Wolfensohn, “A New Global Balance: Thechallenge of leadership”, Address to the Board ofGovernors, The World Bank Group, September 2003.

3. Clive Hamilton, Richard Denniss, David Baker, “Wasteful

Consumption in Australia”, Discussion Paper Number 77,The Australia Institute, March 2005.

4. Pope Benedict XVI, to the Cardinal Electors in the SistineChapel, 20 April 2005.

5. Saint Ambrose, De Nabuthae, 10, 45: “Audis, dives, quidDominus Deus dicat? Et tu ad ecclesiam venis, non ut aliquidlargiaris pauperi, sed ut auferas”: CSEL 322, 492

6. Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, 50,3-4: PG 58, 508-509.

7. Reflection of Bishop Patrick Power, Auxiliary Bishop of theArchdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

❛We are called to Christ, who is the light of theworld. His actions and teachings opened theeyes of the people of his time, and they continueto open our eyes to the workings of God.❜

In the beginning was theWord, and the Word waswith God, and the Word wasGod. He was in the beginningwith God. All things cameinto being through him, andwithout him not one thingcame into being. What hascome into being in him waslife, and the life was the lightof all people (Jn 1:1-4).

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