THE EASTER FLAME

Meditation of Pope Benedict XVI

(St Luke Production)

As we wait in the night, dark church for the Easter light to be struck, we should experience the consoling realisation that God is fully aware of the night by which we are surrounded.  

The night enables us to appreciate what the light really is.  

It is brightness, or luminousness that enables us to see, that shows the way and gives direction, helps us to know others and ourselves.  

The tiny quivering flame is an image of the wonderful mystery that we call life and that is profoundly dependent on light.   

At this moment we are not only celebrating the Resurrection we are also given a distant glimpse of the second coming of the Lord, whom we are advancing to meet...

We should also ask ourselves the question “Does my lamp have enough oil for the wedding feast?”  

The world is indeed dark, but even a single candle suffices to bring light into the deepest darkness.  

Did not God give us a candle at baptism and a means lighting it?  

We must be courageous enough to light the candle of our patience, our trust, our love.  

Instead of bewailing the night, we must dare to light the little lamp that God has loaned us, the light of Christ.