For the last several weeks, we have reminded ourselves of the word of Jesus to His disciples, and to us.

“You are the light of the world.” As we have noted in past weeks, to be the light of the world is an honor and a responsibility.

In the Gospel of Matthew, after calling us the light of the world, Jesus continued, “A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

This is our responsibility to Christ and to our faith. Our light must shine before others. Recent columns have highlighted what happens when that light is lost.

In our society, God’s gift of marriage and family is being weakened to the detriment of men, women and children. Even more videos exposing the manipulation and sale of body parts of the aborted preborn by Planned Parenthood have been made public.

Pope Francis has decried the widespread failure to care deeply for the poor, the refugee and the earth. That too is what happens when the light of Christ is not the guiding force as we deal with each other and with creation.

In a sense, the need for that light is what unites all of these issues of history and of our time.

It is not easy to be the light in a moment of history like ours when darkness is advancing. Obviously witnessing to the truth is easier and more pleasant when society agrees with the truth, at least in general terms. It is harder when every time we turn on the television or the radio, error and sin are held up, admired and even valued.

So how should we witness? How should we be the light of the world?

First, we need to be light that shines within ourselves even before it shines for others. We need what we might call a spiritual pilot light.

A pilot light, of course, is small and internal. But it is on all the time. In the same way, we need to accept and love Jesus in a personal way. Deep in our hearts we are given fire by accepting that He is God and man, that He is our savior.

That pilot light will only be kept burning if we engage in a constant stream of prayer, some private, some the public prayer of the Church. But such a personal love and devotion is for the whole of Jesus and His teaching, not just for emotionally pleasing or uplifting elements.

We cannot forget that Jesus has also told us, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

That means that our personal love must seek out Jesus’ commands. We need to hold in the depths of our hearts, as part of the pilot light of faith, a commitment to all of the teachings of Jesus and the Church.

Do we, for example, embrace Jesus’ teaching about Himself in the Eucharist that we are hearing in the Gospel at Sunday Mass in these weeks? Jesus tells us that what was bread becomes His flesh for the life of the world. Our faith and witness must grow stronger because we believe this personally. And then Sunday Mass becomes not a mere obligation, but a strengthening encounter with Jesus and this teaching.

How about our personal embrace of Christ’s teaching against divorce, about the nature of marriage, or the need to forgive each other from our hearts?

The point is that all the elements of the teaching of Jesus and His Church are not a list of do’s and don’ts. They are the truth to set us free. And when we embrace it, we witness first to ourselves about God’s goodness and His call to us to be with Him eternally. Along with prayer, Jesus’ teaching feeds our spiritual pilot light.

We need that internal strength in order to witness to the world. If we are not convinced and faithful in our own hearts, in the quiet of our personal relationship with God, how can we go forth to be the light of the world? But if our own heart is convinced and on fire, the rest of our witness will take care of itself.

And how the world needs our light!