Many of us fight the darkness competing against the light within us. We have to work very hard to drive out this ruler – to strip evil of its power over us because our opponent the devil prowls around in the darkness like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. And we are on the menu.
Satan and his minions – mythical, legendary, and real-life – can take control of us when we give in to temptation. That’s why our Gospel reading from John that left out the rest of Chapter 12 shortchanges us. It brings us up short of a very important conversation between Jesus and the crowd. It reads: Jesus said to them, “Walk while you have the light, so that darkness – evil – may not overcome you. Whoever walks in the dark – evil – does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.”
We are all children of the light equipped to fight darkness because at our baptisms we received the light of Christ from the Paschal candle placed near the font. At the Easter Vigil we will hold and then light other peoples’ candles by passing the light between and among us in a show of solidarity, communion and cooperation.
The Exultet will then be beautifully sung by Anthony: Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness.
With Christ’s light we are to end gloom and darkness – evil. Our individual lights shine brightly through our acts of good will, our truthfulness, compassion, respect for others, rejection of lies, moral behavior, and love. Evil cannot stand under those conditions. We are the ones who are to slay evil and refuse to let it reign. We have that power made even stronger by the Holy Spirit within us all.
Not neglected in our Gospel is this: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” Here is a story that explains Jesus’s meaning.
(begin) In New Zealand there are more flightless birds than anywhere on earth. Among these are the kiwi and penguin. Scientists tell us that these birds had wings, but they lost them through evolution. They had no use for them. They had no natural predators and food was plentiful. Since there was no reason to fly, they didn’t.
Compare them to the eaglet that somehow ended up in a chicken barnyard. The eaglet was raised with the chickens, pecking at corn and strutting around the chicken coop. One day a mountain man passed by, recognized the bird, now a fully grown eagle, and asked the farmer if he could work to rehabilitate it. The farmer said, “Go ahead, but it’ useless. All that eagle knows is pecking corn like a chicken.”
The mountaineer began weeks of rigorous training with the eagle, forcing it to run after him so it had to use its wings. Many times the eagle fell out of the limbs of trees onto its head. One day, finally, the mountaineer took the eagle to the top of a mountain and held it above its head on his wrist. Giving an upward thrust to his arm, he sent the eagle into the sky with a “Fly!”
The eagle circled and wheeled upward, straining, until soon it took off in a majestic sweep and looked directly into the sun. It was gone. It had regained its nature. It was an eagle once more. (end)
We have a choice of remaining kiwis or penguins, or of going through the pain of becoming eagles God has called us to be. When we become eagles, we have chosen to die to ourselves to bear fruit in Christ.
To say it another way, we are no longer just grains of wheat. We no longer strut with the chickens. Like wheat dough in an oven, we rise with Jesus, and we fly like an eagle.
For those of us who were around in the 1970s, and I suspect there’s more than a few of us, here is the beginning of the song “Fly Like An Eagle” played by the Steve Miller Band. They sing about the power within all of us to rise above and help one another. The eagle represents our strength, courage, and determination.
The song has a direct reference to Matthew 25 and is very appropriate for us to hear and even sing especially during Lent and just before Holy Week. If it was permissible, I’d have Donny Nolan play this song on his piano with Anthony’s accompaniment.
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
I wanna fly like an eagle
To the sea
Fly like an eagle, let my spirit carry me
I want to fly like an eagle
'Til I'm free
Oh Lord through the revolution
Feed the babies
Who don't have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin' in the street
Oh, oh, there's a solution
I want to fly like an eagle
To the sea
Fly like an eagle, let my spirit carry me
I want to fly like an eagle
'Til I'm free
Oh Lord through the revolution (end)
Let’s not have time keep on slippin, slippin, slippin into our future. On this fifth Sunday of Lent, let’s remember we all can be guilty of missed opportunities with our having no eagle vision to reach out and help the poor, feed the children or support housing for people in need.
But, oh, there is a solution like our upcoming Good Friday simple meal with its free will offering and contribution to the Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and the Matthew 25 Fund.
When we give generously to these and other important charities, we fly like eagles and we clearly demonstrate we are children of the light we call Christ.
Deacon David Pierce
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