Monday, March 26, 2007 Alipio: Light has risen By Fr. Jose Alipio The Yoke
Mt 4:12-17, 23-25
THE gospel of Matthew was written to prove to the Jews of that day that Jesus was the Messiah. The author built his proof by showing that Jesus fulfilled a number of messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament.
Over a period of two or three centuries, a number of passages in the Old Testament were interpreted as predictions of when and where the Messiah would appear.
Matthew's gospel works those predictions into his narrative of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We see an example of this technique in today's gospel reading.
Jesus reportedly moved from his hometown of Nazareth to the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali to fulfill what Isaiah had prophesied: That people living in the darkness of the land of Zebulun and Naphtali would see a great light.
That ancient claim that a light will arise from a land overshadowed by death is a message we need to hear. How better to describe our nation than to see it as a "land overshadowed by death."
Millions of people die each year from infectious and degenerative diseases. Many of these diseases -- cancer, stroke, heart attacks and AIDS -- are connected with our modern-day lifestyle.
Millions of other people die each year from automobile accidents, from domestic violence and criminal activities. If we add people who take their own lives and abort the unborn, we can hardly avoid admitting that we are quite literally a land overshadowed by death. When we stop to think of this terrible toll, we long for a light to rise that will show us a way to end the violence and cure the diseases that strike down so many of our people.
