Imagine that you're driving on the highway on a really snowy day. That shouldn't be too hard.
The lines on the road are covered up, your headlights don't do much to help, it even gets hard to gauge the distance ahead of you. It's a stressful situation.
In that moment of stress and fear - of feeling uncertain and alone - one of the most comforting things you can see is the glow of brake lights from a car ahead of you. Those lights tell you, "You're on the right track, just keep going, you're not off the road."
Our readings today are about light coming into the darkness of our world. On a day like this, we can surely understand that feel of being lost in the dark - but, in reality, even on the brightest day, we can lose our way.
That's because our world is covered in a darkness - the darkness of sin. We see it when we read about another mass shooting; we hear it when people try to defend objectively evil acts like abortion and claim that they are truly good; we even add to this darkness ourselves when we treat others a means to and end, when we don't look at another person as a beloved creation of God but as something that is intruding upon my idea of a happy life.
This darkness of sin comes from the brokenness of our world - the simple fact that we don't love as we should. And so, even when we are trying to live good lives, it's so easy for us to get lost. We need a light, we need someone to show us the way.
Jesus descended into that darkness. In both the first reading and the gospel today, we hear the words of the prophet Isaiah: "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen."
Jesus comes into these lands in the north of Israel - the first places that were conquered by the Assyrians in the time of Isaiah - and preaches that the "kingdom of heaven is at hand." This kingdom is not just a restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, but it is a kingdom of light in a world of darkness.
For the people of every time and place, Jesus offers light. He shows us a way out of the darkness of sin, confusion, and fear that are all around us.
But it's not enough to just see and acknowledge that light - we have to follow it.
To be a disciple of Jesus, a Christian, we have to allow His light to penetrate every dark corner of our hearts and our minds - of our whole being. There is no shame or bitterness or pride that we can hide from the light of Christ. If we want to truly give our lives to Him so that he can save us, we must let Him into all those uncomfortable places that we would rather hide or ignore.
But discipleship is not just about not sinning - it's about walking in the path Jesus lays out for us. Like Peter, Andrew, James, and John, God has a plan for us - a plan for us to cooperate in His work in the world. Whatever that calling, that vocation, is, God will use it to bring us closer to Him and bring others to Him through us.
I encourage you to give serious thought to that: what does God want me to do with my life?
For those of us who are living a vocation, we should be seeking ways to grow in holiness in the course of our lives. Everyone is called to be a saint.
For those of you here who still aren't sure what God is calling you to do with your life, I want to offer you this advice: Keep listening. Pray everyday and give everything you are over to the Lord.
The light of Christ is the only sure guide in this world. On our own we will get lost. It's only by following him that we can find what we are looking for and get to our only true home.
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