A reading of the holy gospel according to Saint John. Jesus proclaimed aloud. Whoever puts faith in me believes not so much in me as in him who sent me. And whoever looks upon me is seeing him who sent me. I have come into the world as its light to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining remaining in the dark.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I am not the one to condemn him. For I did not come to condemn the world but to save it. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words already has his judge, namely, the word that I have spoken. It is that which will condemn him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own.
No. The father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to speak. Since I know that his commandment means eternal life, whatever I say is spoken just as he instructed me, and this is the gospel of the lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. I just wanna ask you a very practical and impertinent question following my reference to a sentence from our lord's words today.
Jesus said, I have come to the world as it's light. Now notice that he's speaking about two thousand years ago. So he says, I have come into the world as its light to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining in the dark. Now my impertinent question is, where do you find that light? Because if you can't find it, what good is it?
If you're out on the Chesapeake Bay and looking for Thomas Point light and the light isn't flashing or for some reason you can't see it, what good is it to you? And the answer is no good at all. None. And worse than that, you may think you're seeing a light and find yourself on a heap of rocks or on a good Chesapeake Bay muddy bottom. So where is this light?
If Christ came into the world to be its light, where is it? Because if it isn't available, if you can't get a hold of it, if you cannot see it, it certainly can't be any illumination to you. And if there's no illumination, you are still in the dark. Now what I find in my vicarious I don't mean vicarious, but in my reading of a sort, people are looking in all directions for the light. Just yesterday, I spent over an hour with a so with a person who has very valid claims to being a philosopher and a deeply religious person.
They're having all kinds of troubles with Nietzsche who died in an insane asylum. Now I'm not exaggerating this. When I look over what we call the literature that of what I say what you see in in pop well, I guess they're popular books of of spirituality. What do you see? You see, I'm talking about Catholics.
You see a number of learned men quoted, and the most popular men quoted have been under, to say the least, a cloud of mistrust from Rome. And they're the ones being most widely quoted. Now if there if if Christ came to be the light of the world and we can't get a hold of the light, then he came in vain completely. Now I am not in the least saying that god almighty cannot make communication with individual human beings. Of course, he can.
The only thing is I can't deal with that. It certainly isn't the normal way. And thirdly, I met plenty of people over at Saint Elizabeth who had had communication with god. Also, I met a lot of them at Mount Hope while it was still in existence over on Reisterstown Road in Baltimore. But I I'm not in the least saying that god cannot appeal or communicate to individual human beings.
We know he can, and very likely he does. I don't know for sure. It isn't something I can get a hold of. It isn't something I can debate. It isn't something I can test.
But Jesus said when he was on this earth, I am the light of the world. I am the way, the truth, and the light. Well, where is he today? Where? In my heart?
Don't give me that. All I know about the heart is that it's a muscle in there that we're replacing today with some plastic. I know what Pascal said. The heart has reasons that the mind knows not what of, but I keep my fingers crossed every time I read it. So where is the Jesus Christ, the public figure, the the person who says he is god, the messiah, at least he claims that, where is he today?
Where is he today where I can get a hold of it and be sure that when I look out, I'm seeing a light that I can depend upon. I know where I am. I get my bearings. I may be tossed around. The waves may be high, and the sky may be dark.
But as long as I can see that flash every five seconds, I know I'm on course. It may be rough, I may be scared to death, but I know where I am, and I know where I'm going. But if I can't see it, where is it? For what good is it? So where ask it.
Where is that where is that light that you that's guiding your life today? Well, I'll tell you what I think. Very you you know what I think. I believe what Christ said. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
The same person said to a man named Peter, you are a rock, and on this rock, I'll build my church. Who hears you, hears me. What you bind on earth is bound in heaven. That's something I can get ahold of. I can get I can get in touch with that.
I can argue. I can debate. I can defend. I can reject. If there's any voice in the world today, it's the living voice coming from the Rock Of Peter.
From a mouth is echoing our lord's own words. I am the way, the truth, and the life. Thank god. The name of the father, the son, and holy spirit. Amen.