Daily Catholic Lectio. Tue, 10 June 2025. Let Your Light Shine!

Daily Catholic Lectio

Tue, 10 June 2025

Tenth Week in Ordinary Time – Tuesday

2 Corinthians 1:18-22. Matthew 5:13-16

Let Your Light Shine!

“Let your light so shine before others!” (Matthew 5:16)

In the Sermon on the Mount, after proclaiming the Beatitudes, Jesus tells His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth… you are the light of the world.” He does not frame it as a command—“you must be”—but as a declaration: “you already are.” It’s an affirmation of the blessedness they have received and the vocation they now embody.

Then Jesus instructs: “Let your light shine before others.” He compares the disciple to a city on a hill—visible and unhidden—and to a lamp placed on a stand—serving others with its light. The Christian life, Jesus insists, must be both transparent and beneficial to others. Saint Paul echoes this when he tells the Christians in Philippi, “You shine like stars in the world” (Phil 2:15), encouraging them to awaken the light within.

The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (“Light of the Nations”), proclaims the Church as a light to the peoples (n. 1), and affirms that the laity are called to be salt and light in the world (n. 33).

In the Old Covenant, the Law (Torah) was considered the light: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path” (Ps 119:105). The prophet Isaiah calls Israel “a light to the nations” (Isa 49:6), and the Temple of Jerusalem symbolized divine illumination. Now, Jesus extends this light-bearing mission to His disciples.

Salt enhances by disappearing into the food. Light helps by revealing, guiding, and enlightening. Jesus calls His followers to live in such a way that they are both hidden and visible, blended and distinct. If our presence in the home, the community, the parish, or the workplace gives life and guidance to others, then we are light.

Jesus also said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Just as the moon receives and reflects light from the sun, a disciple of Jesus receives His light and reflects it to the world.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy