Eph 5:8-9 “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and justice and truth, discerning what is pleasing to God.”
You ought no longer to become such as you once were, because formerly—before your conversion—you were darkness; that is, you were an obscurity of blackness both in yourselves and in others, since by your poor example you were casting them also into error. But now—that is, after you have come to grace—you have become light, since you possess faith, justice, and purity of life, by which both by word and by the example of your actions you enlighten others.
And this light is not in yourselves but in Christ, because you were darkness in yourselves, but now you are in the Lord. Therefore, “let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” You are light, but a light that has been illuminated—just as the eyes are said to be light, yet an illuminated light, because they cannot see unless either the sun shines during the day or a lamp glows during the night. And since it is necessary that you, who are such lights, should be illuminated by the true light—which is God—you are not called light in yourselves but in the Lord. Therefore you can rightly be called children of light.
Since therefore you are children of light, you must no longer walk as children of darkness but as children of light; that is, you must advance from bright works to works still brighter.
The reason why you ought to walk in this way is that the fruit of light—that is, the benefit which light produces as a tree produces fruit—consists in all goodness, by which a person becomes good in himself; in justice, by which he renders to his neighbor what is just; and in truth, by which he believes and speaks what is true.
Yet we may also understand justice and truth as parts of goodness. Justice concerns the observance of good works, while truth concerns speech that does not deceive and thoughts that are not false. And all these things are good; therefore they are parts of goodness. The light that produces such fruits—that is, the one enlightened by the true light—is Christ.
Eph 5:8 cont. Eph 5:9 “Walk as children of light,” and do this by proving—that is, by examining, striving to know, and discerning—what is pleasing to God; that is, what God greatly wills, so that you may do it and thus please Him most perfectly. Whatever we wish to do, we ought first to examine before beginning it whether it will be pleasing to God. And if we find that it pleases God, then let us do it; but if we discover that it displeases Him, let us not do it.
Eph 5:11 “And do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For the things done by them in secret it is shameful even to speak of.”
You who are children of light—walk in such a way that you do not participate; that is, do not have the will to participate or to consent to the unfruitful works of darkness of those who are darkness—that is, those blinded in themselves and blinding others. Their works are unfruitful because they bring no benefit.
Do not participate in works of this kind, but rather reprove and correct them. For there are two ways by which the wicked with whom we live do not defile us: first, if we do not consent to them; second, if we reprove them. Not to communicate is not to consent. A person participates in the sinner when he joins himself to the sinner’s deed by the companionship of his will or by approval.
Therefore, warning us of this, the Apostle says: “Do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness.” And because it was not enough merely not to consent—lest negligence in discipline be sought as an excuse—he adds: “rather, reprove them.”
See how he embraces both duties: “Do not participate, but rather reprove.”
What does “do not participate” mean? Do not consent, do not praise, do not approve.
What does “rather reprove” mean? Rebuke, correct, restrain.
This command, however, is given especially to those who are prelates. Therefore you must not participate but rather reprove, because it is shameful not only to do or even to see such things, but even to speak of the things done by those darkened men in secret places; for they are ashamed to do such things openly. “Everyone who does evil hates the light.”
“But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for everything that is made manifest is light.”
Eph 5:12 Those men do shameful things in secret. Yet all their works which are reproved are made manifest to them by the light of reproof. Often the one who commits a fault does not recognize it. But when he is rebuked, the fault is made manifest to him.
Among those who are now called darkness by the Apostle, the conscience has been so darkened by the habit of sin that they no longer understand the evil of what they do—or if they do understand it, they treat it as nothing and forget it. Thus their sins are covered and hidden under a kind of darkness so that they are neither understood nor afterwards recalled to memory.
Eph 5:13 But when these faults are brought before them by one who rebukes them, the light of truth reveals them to their minds so that they may see them, confess them, and by repentance destroy them.
Eph 5:14 Behold how great a benefit proceeds from rebuke! Indeed they are made manifest by the light. For every sin that is made manifest becomes light—that is, it becomes evident and no longer ambiguous, nor can it be hidden by excuses once it has been openly declared.
Or we may say that every evil work which is made manifest through confession becomes light—that is, it illuminates the conscience. For by the consideration of the evil deeds one has committed, the repentant soul is enlightened to perform good works; it sees how much it ought to afflict itself in penance and with how much zeal it ought to labor in good works.
Therefore, because everything that makes manifest becomes light, Isaiah says: “Arise, shine, for your light has come.”
But the Apostle, according to his custom and with apostolic authority, expresses this thought in other words and adds something more:
“Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you.”
The sleep of the soul is to forget one’s God. Every soul that forgets its God sleeps. Just as one who sleeps bodily, even if it is already day, remains as though in night because he is not awake to see the dawn of day, so also for some people—even though Christ is already present and the truth has been preached—the sleep of the soul still remains.
Therefore the prophet or the Apostle cries out to each of them: “Arise, shine, for your light has come”—that is, Christ.
Or: “Awake, you who sleep”—you who lie sluggish in the darkness of your heart, not thinking of God, not considering your sins, but keeping the eyes of your mind fixed on earthly desires.
Rise from that sloth through the remembrance of God and through the recognition of your guilt. And arise completely—by worthy repentance, I say—lifted up and separated from the dead, that is, from those who through sin are spiritually dead in soul, so that you may not lie among them as though equally dead.
Or: arise through confession, and rise again through satisfaction.
“Arise from the dead”—that is, from sins, which in the Epistle to the Hebrews are called “dead works.”
Then Christ, who is the illuminator of minds, will enlighten you; that is, He will pour into your heart the light of wisdom, truth, and grace in such a way that it may remain with you—that is, so that you may no longer lose it.
For he says more when he says “Christ will enlighten you” than if he had said simply “Christ will enlighten.” To say “He will enlighten you” signifies not only that Christ pours the light of virtues into you, but also that He preserves it within you. For Christ would not enlighten someone for that person’s benefit if He did not also preserve the light of virtues in him until the end.
CONTINUE
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