{"id":4436,"date":"2026-02-08T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/?p=4436"},"modified":"2026-02-07T19:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T19:04:08","slug":"shedding-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/2026\/02\/08\/shedding-light\/benedictine-spirituality\/4436\/","title":{"rendered":"Shedding light"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Jamie Street on unsplash.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Living in challenging and frightening times it\u2019s easy to feel overwhelmed. So much in our societies seem broken that fixing them seems beyond us. This can lead us into despair and hopelessness. We can be tempted to give, feeling that there\u2019s nothing we can do to fix things.

Today\u2019s gospel calls us to take a different view. Jesus reminds us that we have already received his light. This offers real consolation in these dark times. However, Jesus doesn\u2019t only console us he challenges us saying:

“No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of all people, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”<\/em>

His challenge is clear, his light is not just a consoling individual gift, it is a gift we are called to use and share. It\u2019s not something to keep safe and hidden, but something we are to hold aloft to help push back the darkness that threatens to engulf our world.

Those are fine words, but it can be hard to know how to put them into practice. In the first reading Isaiah gives us some very clear and direct guidance about that, saying:

\u201cIf you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word, if you give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed, your light will rise in the darkness, and your shadows become like noon.\u201d<\/em>

His words give make it very clear, we bring Christ\u2019s light to the world by the way we treat others. We do it by showing kindness and compassion, by helping and supporting where we can. It\u2019s a call to look out for those little acts and encounters that can brighten people\u2019s days and lighten their burdens as they lived through challenging times.

Where is Christ inviting you to become the light of the world today?
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Living in challenging and frightening times it\u2019s easy to feel overwhelmed. So much in our societies seem broken that fixing them seems beyond us. This can lead us into despair and hopelessness. We can be tempted to give, feeling that there\u2019s nothing we can do to fix things. Today\u2019s gospel calls us to take a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,494,544,239,271,537,286,246],"tags":[28,18,53,223,21,887,6,8,45,120,33,229,13,5,741,29,15,10],"class_list":["post-4436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-benedictine-spirituality","category-christ","category-discernment","category-gospel","category-lectio-divina","category-liturgy","category-prophetic-voices","category-scripture","tag-benedictine","tag-challenge","tag-christ","tag-christlike","tag-compassion","tag-goodworks","tag-gospel","tag-hope","tag-isaiah","tag-kindness","tag-kingdom","tag-kingdomvalues","tag-lectiodivina","tag-light","tag-lightofchrist","tag-love","tag-newlife","tag-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4436"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4443,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4436\/revisions\/4443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turveyabbey.org.uk\/pilgrimage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}