Come to the Lord and
Receive Enlightenment
Light is sweet, says Ecclesiastes, at the sight of the sun the eyes are glad. Take away light,
and the world is without beauty. Take away light, and life itself is without
life. Moses, a man who saw God, says God saw the light and said it was good. So it is right for
us to contemplate the great, the
true, the eternal light
that enlightens every man that comes into the world – that is,
Christ the saviour and redeemer of the world, who was made man and lived the human
condition to its very end. Of him the prophet David says in the Psalms,
Sing to the Lord and celebrate his name!
Make a road for him who rides upon the
clouds – “The Lord” is his name.
Rejoice in his sight!
He called the light sweet and foretold that it would be good to
see with his own eyes the Sun of glory, he who as God-in-man said I am the light of the world. Anyone who
follows me will not be walking in the dark: he will have the light of life. And
again: This is the judgement,
that light has come into the world. In this way he used the light
of the sun, which we perceive with our eyes, as a prefiguration of the coming
of the Sun of justice. That Sun was sweet indeed for those who were found
worthy to be taught by him and to see him with their own eyes just like any
other man. He was not just any man, he was also the true God, and this is why
he made the blind see, the lame walk and the deaf hear, this is why he cleansed
people afflicted with leprosy and by his sole command called the dead back to
life.
Moreover, even now, in the present, it is a most sweet activity to
look on him with the eyes of the spirit, to contemplate his divine beauty and
ponder it in our hearts. Thus through communion and togetherness we are
enlightened and adorned, our spirits filled with sweetness and we ourselves
wrapped in holiness as in a cloak. We attain understanding and finally we are
filled with exultation in God which will last all the days of this our present
life. As the wise preacher Ecclesiastes said, However great the number of years that a man may live, let him enjoy
them all. Obviously the Sun of justice makes all who gaze on him
rejoice. As the prophet David says:
The righteous are glad and exult in God’s
sight; they rejoice in their gladness. and Rejoice in the Lord, you just: it is
good for the upright to praise him.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
From the Explanation on Ecclesiastes by St Gregory of
Agrigentum
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