The Reverend Philip Banks writes:

February 2009

Christians called to be bearers of the light of Christ

Most people find themselves living or working not only in over-lit buildings but in also in an over-lit environment – and in the increasingly 24/7 life of city centres, any real difference between day and night has become a forgotten experience. We rarely, if ever, experience complete darkness, as we live at night under the glow of sodium street lighting or the glare of security lights.

For the most part we have not lost the primeval feeling of finding the dark threatening – our children still seem to be ‘scared of the dark’! The lighting of candles is an extremely evocative way of expressing the opposite of darkness, fear and evil. 

Picture: candlelit protest in Korea, BBC News.

So it is that the use of candlelight in churches serves so much more than just the utilitarian purpose of providing light. Candles are lit at baptisms as a symbol of the light of Christ. At St Peter’s, many people light a candle as a symbol of prayers for themselves or for someone else. Candles are lit on the altar in most churches as a symbol of a sacred place. And lamps or candles have always been a feature of Christian liturgy, recalling the Jewish custom of lighting a candle at the start of the domestic Sabbath meal. But in our Christian context, the focus has not been on the element of the light itself, but on the figure of Christ whom the light represents.

The church festival of Candlemas (which we celebrate on the first Sunday of February) recalls the moment when, as an infant, Jesus was brought to the temple and proclaimed as a light for the whole world. As always, at the Candlemas Eucharist we process around the church with lighted candles – not just as a reminder of this event, but also as a reminder that we ourselves are called to be bearers of the light of Christ. Just as lights mark a holy place or our prayers for peace or wholeness, so too Christians are called to bring Christ’s wholeness and peace to the world and its peoples.

The need for this in our world at present is more and more urgent. As I write, the crisis in Gaza deepens; the economic situation is having an impact on so many areas of life; the horrific situation in Zimbabwe continues. You can think of other situations. The challenge for us is how to find ways of being influences for good and for change. Despite stresses upon us, may we be generous in spirit, loving in our relationships with others and committed to a life of prayer.

Prayer, especially for another person, is one of the many languages of love, and as the wax of a candle slowly consumes itself as it burns, so the lighting of a candle as a prayer can be a symbolic gesture of our desire to be self-giving in love. It can burn for someone in need, or for a departed loved one, and its flame can evoke our deepest Christian hope for the healing of God’s creation. This Candlemas, may we seek to be bearers of light, and to be people of prayer, generosity and love.

Fr. Philip Banks