The Holy Priest-Martyr Artemon and those with him (284-305)
Acts 4:1-10; John 3:16-21
Read John 3:16-21
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
On special days in elementary school, my classmates and I got excited when our teacher would wheel a TV on a cart into the classroom so we could watch a movie. The blinds were pulled down; the lights were shut off. Some students fully engaged with the movie, whereas others took advantage of the dark room to fool around or pass notes to their friends. When the movie finished, our teacher would warn us when she was about to turn the lights back on: “3…2…1…”. Without exception, there would always be students who would hiss in pain at the brightness.
Today’s Gospel shares the good news that “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world” but that we might be saved through Him. It speaks of those who “loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
In the classroom story illustrated above, whether you relate to the students who obediently watched the movie or to those who fooled around with their friends, moving from darkness to light can be painful for anyone. It takes time for our eyes to adjust. The difference is that the students who attentively watched the movie were likely on board with returning to the lesson, whereas the students who were fooling around dreaded the unwelcome, condemning introduction of light. Similarly, in our lives, we prefer to hide our sinful thoughts and habits so that we can continue them in private. We hesitate to “bring them to the light,” that is, to bring them to priests in confession, because we fear embarrassment. However, admitting the sins which we commit in “darkness” forces us to see them and acknowledge them for the evil they are. Let us not be afraid to repent of and confess all the sins we commit, including the most embarrassing ones, so that we can take courage and commit ourselves to walking as “children of light” (see 1 Thessalonians 5:5).