Psalm Reflection: The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A

“The Lord is my light and my salvation.” - Psalm 27

One of my favorite activities in boy scouts was orienteering. We were given a map, a compass and a destination, and we had to get our bearings and find our way. Usually it was a competition, which helped, but also meant that, in wanting to win, it was easy to not be as detailed as needed and suddenly find yourself off course and lost.

The advice we were given when we were lost in the wilderness was to “find the light” and walk in the most logical direction. Even if you get lost without a map or a compass, you almost always have light. The sun, the moon or even a star can be an anchor point for you in the sky. Walking directly toward or away from the light, or always keeping it on your right or left can ensure you travel in a straight line long enough to get back on track.

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is the prologue to the Gospel of John:

What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:4-5

Jesus is our goal.

He is our anchor when we get off track.

If we can keep our eyes fixed on Him, the light, we will always find our way.

In the days of pirates, eyepatches were popular not because everyone was missing an eye, but to keep one eye adjusted to the light and the other to the dark. If you were to have to go below deck to get something quickly, it would take too long for your eyes to adjust to the dark on their own. So, you would patch one eye switch it when you went below deck so the eye that was adjusted to the dark could see better. 

I feel like most of us are this way spiritually. Parts of us are seeking to follow the light and other parts of us are adjusted to the darkness. As long as we have “eyepatches” in our lives, things that keep us adjusted or attached to sin, we will never be able to fully live in the light. The great thing about removing those eyepatches it that, the next time you think you might want to go back into the darkness, you will not be able to see because your eyes have been in the light for too long. The longer we live in the light and allow our lives to adjust to it, the easier it becomes to avoid the darkness.

This week, reflect on the following questions:

Who or what are the sources of light in your life? How can you spend more time intentionally focusing on them?

What are the spiritual eyepatches in your life? What things keep you acclimated or attached to sin?

What can you do to rid yourself of the eyepatches in your life so you can live completely in the light of Christ?

When our eyes comes out of darkness, adjusting to the light can be painful and take time. We may even want to run back into the darkness because it is too much to bear. If we are patient, our hearts will adjust to the light and will hopefully one day become so attuned to the light, that we can no longer see in the dark.

Take off the eyepatch, you do not need to go below deck anymore. 

You do not need to wander lost in the wilderness anymore. 

Find your light, and start walking.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt