The fourth Gospel, the one that we refer to as the Gospel of St John, is strong in symbolism and metaphor.  We readers of the Gospel must not be seduced into reading into this Gospel more than the metaphorical and theological intention of its author.

On this fourth Sunday of Lent the author talks about the contrast between “light” and “darkness”.  We must, as believers, appreciate that we have chosen to live in the “light”.  The “light” is simply this: God became a human person.  He was Jesus Christ.  This means that we, because of this, have been drawn into God’s eternal life of justice, peace and love.

This metaphor about “light” that we read about in St John’s Gospel, is very helpful and encouraging for we believers.  It invites us to reflect upon a simple fact.  We are more confident than non-believers about the future of our world and about the well-being of the human race.

We are the people who, over the course of history, and in our own time, have provided health, education and health care when the rest of the world thought that such entitlements were simply for the privilege of those who were rich and powerful.

We believe that, because Jesus became one of us, every human being is entitled to live with dignity.  This is why we believe that we live in the “light”. We will keep trying to make our world a brighter place for everyone!