3rd Sunday of the Year A – Word of God Sunday – 2026

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ( Mt 4,17 )

Imagine standing in complete darkness, then suddenly — boom — the sky explodes with brilliant colour. Everything you couldn't see is now illuminated, and you can't help but gasp in wonder. That is exactly what happened when Jesus stepped onto the scene.

For generations, people had been stumbling through life, trying to figure out meaning, purpose, and truth. They were shadowed by fear, burdened by guilt, and crushed by hopelessness. Then Jesus arrived, and everything changed. Matthew tells us it was like an ancient promise finally coming true — light breaking into darkness, hope flooding into despair.

And people couldn't stay away. They came rushing from everywhere — fishermen, tax collectors, the sick, the curious, the desperate. What drew them wasn't just another teacher or another religious leader. It was Light itself—brilliant, life-giving, transforming.

The most breathtaking part of this is that Light has not dimmed. Jesus is not some historical figure whose influence faded with time, like a firework that dazzles momentarily before disappearing into smoke. Jesus is alive, present, and his words that we find in scripture still illuminate our path today.

Let me tell you about Mia, a seventeen-year-old who felt utterly lost. Social media had convinced her she was not enough: not pretty enough, not successful enough, not worthy enough. One night, desperate and alone, she opened the Bible app on her phone, almost randomly. She landed on Matthew's Gospel and read Jesus saying, "You are the light of the world." Those words stopped her cold. Me? Light? She kept reading, discovering that Jesus did not just bring light — he called his followers to let it shine through them. Over the following weeks, as she explored Scripture, something shifted. The words she read were no longer dead letters on a screen; they were alive, speaking directly into her confusion and pain. She found identity, purpose, and hope. She discovered that she was not just wandering in darkness but that she was actually carrying the Light herself.

This is what the Word of God does. It is not just ancient history or a set of moral guidelines—it is Jesus himself speaking to us today. Every page reveals him: the Word who became flesh, who entered our darkness and declared, "I am the light of the world."

We have every reason to be proud followers of Christ! We carry the message that transforms darkness into beauty, despair into hope, confusion into clarity. But be clear! You cannot share what you don't know. You cannot illuminate with Light that you have never encountered.

The Bible is not a book of boring rules for old people. It is an explosive encounter with the living God. It is Jesus—yesterday, today, and forever—still breaking into our darkness, still calling people to himself, still changing everything he touches.

So open it. Read it. Let the Light flood in. Because unlike fireworks that fade, this brilliance never ends.

By Fr. Thomas O'Brien a.a.