Diwali Festival - With a Christian Outlook: A Homily for Diwali

The numerous lamps on the house tops and the lightening of the crackers remind us the joy of celebrating Diwali – The festival of lights. While millions of homes all over the country are illuminated, we rejoice with all the people of our land, and we have to come the altar bringing our own little lamp – the lamp each one of us has carried is our own heart which burns with the oil of love and whose flame is faith. As we share the Eucharist our hearts will burn so that the warmth and the brightness of our faith and love will become manifest to one another. On this joyous moment let us invoke the Lord to kindle in us the fire of His love to celebrate the feast with radiating joy. The gospel passages related to this celebration are 1Jn. 1: 5 -10, Jn. 8: 12-20. In all these passages we find that Jesus Christ is the Light of Whole world and the redeemer of all.

Of all Hindu festivals, Diwali may be said to be the most widely celebrated. ‘Diwali’- meaning row or cluster of lights- the festival is so called because of the illuminations that form its main attraction. With the usual illuminations go crackers and fireworks dear to children for whom Diwali is perhaps the gayest festival. This also is known as Diwali  The origin of the festival is not definitively known. But the festival has gathered round it, in its progress down the centuries, a number of legends concerning its origin has an absorbed memories of many events of national importance. As a result, all sections of Hindus find something in the festival which enables them to take part in the celebrations. The Vaishnavites for examples attributed the origin of Divali to the coronation of Rama, as the king of Ayodhya. It is said that during the night of the coronation, there was illumination all over the country. According to another legend, Divali marks the coronation of king Vikarmditya who has inspired many an ancient tale. In certain parts of India, the origin of Diwali is attributed to the destruction by Vishnu of a demon named Naraka, who delighted in filth. The demon of filth is possibly the south-west monsoon that deluged in the past a good part of the country and Diwali that comes in the autumn at the end of monsoon was perhaps celebrated to express the joyous relief from the tyranny of the deluge and for the mercantile communities, particularly in western India, Diwali  is doubly important as marking the new year, beginning with the month of Kartik. Whatever might be the authentic origin of Divali, both the legends and the modern developments of the festival have an underlying theme: Divali is a rejoicing over the Victory (coronation) of God (Rama) or the good king (Vikramaditya); it is a rejoicing over the defeat of a filthy hero like Ravana or Naraka. The inner significance of the ideological content of the celebrations is therefore that the true and the good overcome the untrue and the ungodly; to put it in common parlance, the conviction that the good triumphs over the evil. Such a belief is symbolized in the illuminations of the festival; i.e., people see in the lights that dispel darkness the sure and ultimate victory of Truth. Hence light in India stands for Jiiana – true knowledge. The national Motto: “SatyamevaJayate” – expresses forcefully the symbolic content of Diwali Festival. Also the aspirations characterizing the celebrations are well summed up in the beautiful invocation as often recited from Brihadharanyaka: ‘Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality’. In the context of the festival of lights, the Scripture Readings fill us with deeper insights into the symbolism of light. In the first reading we hear ‘God is light’ (1Jn 1:5) indeed in all religious traditions God is invoked and worshiped as light. For, God is light not only because He is the source of light, but the whole world is illumined with His own light. "There is light that shines beyond all things on earth" "This is the light that shines in our hearts" (Ch. Up. 3,13.7). Again, "He is the radiant light of lights" (Mund. 2.2.91. And so we must say that 'in His light we see light'. How beautifully do our Tamil people call God as 'Svayam Jyoti', 'Param Jyoti', 'Arul Perum Jyoti'. The sun and the moon are considered as the eyes of God in Indian literature. In Gita, when Krishna manifests himself, He is described as: "If there is the effulgence of a thousand suns bursting forth all at once in the heavens even that would hardly approach the splendor of the mighty God" (Gita II. 12).

           The Gospel proclaims that the Light of lights has appeared and manifested itself in the human flesh of Jesus. At his birth did not the glory of the Lord shine forth as the angel brought the good news to the shepherds? Did not the old Simeon sing: 'A Light to the Gentiles'? Jesus Himself testified to the people: 'I am the light of the world'. True, in the presence of him who was light, the darkness of evil spirits was dispelled; the untruth and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees were exposed: and the tyranny of sickness and death was overcome. During the transfiguration, the disciples saw the glory of His light. "His face shone, His clothes were brilliant as light" (Mt. 12:2). Yes, the light that shone on the face of Christ is that "of the glory of God Himself” (2 Cor. 4:5). The Risen Lord appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus as dazzling light. He is the light who enlightens every man coming into the world (Jn. 1:8). And, according to His promise, whoever follows him does not walk in darkness, but has the light of life. In John's perspective, the mystery of Jesus Christ could be summed up thus: 'The light shines in the lamp (Rev. 21:23). Now, Christ who proclaimed Himself as the light of the world has also told us, 'you are the light of the world'. For, as St. Peter says, 'He has called us from darkness to His marvelous light'(1 Pet.2:9). He has transferred us to His Kingdom to share the destiny of the saints in the light. And so does St. Paul exhort; live as sons of light, (Eph. 5:8): put on the armor of light and put away the deeds of darkness (Rom. 13:12); while urging us to 'walk in light' John gives fraternal love as the criterion for judging whether a man is in darkness or in light (Jn. 1 :5). Surely the man who lives as the true son of light shines before men. The imperative of the Gospel is therefore; Let your light shine, so that men may glorify God. The glow of the Scriptures, the symbolism of light, on Diwali day, touches us with a burning message. The lamps of Diwali assure us that He darkness of completion, casteism, black money, smuggling, evil practices, will be surely overcome by true dedication and service in the country: Diwali lights illumining the homes of India infuse us with the hope that the forces of darkness will be overthrown. But, who will achieve this victory and how will it be realized? Each one of us is little lamp God has placed to illumine our beautiful country. Our task is not to curse the darkness, but to light the lamp of our life with truth and love. Let us, then, sing with Tagore: "In the dance of your festival of lights, my heart will throb and my life will be one with your smile". 0 Lord! Who illumines every man that comes into the world, as we rejoice today in the festival of lights, may our hearts be inflamed with the fire of your divine Word so that we become worthy to enter into the celebration of the Eucharist that heralds to us the feast of eternal Diwali to come. Accept, 0 Lord, the gifts we place symbolizing ourselves and our country. May all who celebrate the festival of lights be purified by the light of the gospel and transformed by the grace of this Paschal Mystery. As we participate in the banquet of life and love, 0' Lord, may we realize its power in us and spread its radiance to all the people of our land by our humble service. May the lamps of this year light up the path of sincerity and truth. Let the burning lamps fill our homes and our country with the brightness of peace and harmony, so that the lamps of next year may shine on a holier and happier people!

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