A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - THE CHRISTIAN AS LAMPLIGHTER

At the Valete Mass [2002] I reminded the boys and their parents that in the time before there were electric lights on our city streets, a person would have the responsibility of being the lamplighter and lighting the gas lamps at dusk and extinguishing them before dawn. Going down one street and up another, he would have people watching him doing his work. They would watch him until the sun went down and could not see him any more. But they could see new light come forth.

This is for me a wonderful image of what a Christian life is all about and what lies behind this challenge for all of us. Those who are Christians continue to light new lights and we can follow their path by the lights they have left behind. They become for us a light in the darkness. A true Christian, therefore, is one whose track you can follow by the light he or she leaves burning.

In all the darkness of stories about Bali, the gunman at Monash University, and the sniper in Washington, we need to remember that we are meant to be a light of hope in our world. The way we care for other people, the way we affirm and encourage them, is our way of being a lamplighter. Each time you
light a candle, you might remember your role as a lamplighter and the beautiful prayer which is used in Salisbury Cathedral, England that reads:

Lighting a candle is a prayer;
When we have gone it stays alight
Kindling in the hearts and minds
Of others the prayers
We have already offered for them and for others
For the sad, the sick, and the suffering and prayers of thankfulness too.
Lighting a candle is a parable;
Burning itself out,
It gives light to others.
Christ gave himself for others.
He calls us to give ourselves.

Lighting a candle is a symbol;
Of love and hope,
Of light and warmth.
Our world needs them all.

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From A Canopy of Stars: Some Reflections for the Journey
by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ [David Lovell Publishing 2003]