Today’s First Reading begins book of Genesis with the story of Creation, the beginning of everything we experience in this life. The first thing the Lord creates is light, and the presence and absence of light marks the difference between night and day. Usually it takes a blackout for us to appreciate the gift of light, not so much as a sign of electricity, but as something that enables us to see. Close your eyes tight and imagine a world without light. Genesis reminds us today that even before the sun, moon, and stars were made, the Lord brought light into the world.
John in the prologue to his Gospel, inspired by the creation of light in Genesis, describes Our Lord as the true light coming into the world. In today’s Gospel the news of Jesus’ miraculous healing makes him a “beacon” that everyone seeks for the sake of their sick loved ones and friends. Sin introduced a darkness into creation; Our Lord has come to banish that darkness with his light.
Let’s thank Our Lord today for the light he brings into the world.
Readings: Genesis 1:1–19; Psalm 104:1–2a, 5–6, 10, 12, 24, 35c; Mark 6:53–56. See also 5th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday.
