Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

In today’s Gospel lesson, John 8:12-20, Jesus calls himself ‘the light of the world.’

I am reminded through this lesson of a phrase from an Eastern prayer (English translation from the Ancient Faith Prayerbook):

'O Christ, the true light…make the light of your countenance shine upon us, that in it we may see your unapproachable light…’

This rich metaphor of light teaches us that Christ gives us spiritual sight, the ability to ‘behold’ and understand who God is. Without the light of Christ, we would ‘walk in the darkness’ and God would remain a mystery — if one could hypothesize about such a thing.

Perhaps this notion reflects a pre-modern (and possibly more accurate) way act of looking and of light itself: not as a passive taking in of light waves or particles, of simply seeing what’s there, but rather an act of communion with the thing being seen. We can see because God first sees us, and quite literally opens our eyes to his presence. Christ is not only light, but a light which enlivens, which enlightens us so we can recognize the one who looks at us.

Such imagery also exists in the third century hymn from evening prayer cycles, the Phos hilaron (translated here by John Keble):

Hail, gladdening light, of his pure glory poured
Who is the immortal Father, heavenly, blest;
Holiest of Holies, Jesus Christ our Lord!

To bring this idea into the realm of the music, I would like to share a short and beautiful setting of the Phos Hilaron text by the young British composer Owain Park.

Yours in Christ,
Justin Appel