We Are the Light

By Ken Canedo

A huge item on this month's pop culture chart is Michael Phelps and his extraordinary quest for eight gold medals in one Olympic game. As we all know, he succeeded, breaking Mark Spitz's seven gold medal Olympic record that stood for 36 years.

It seemed like all of America and much of the world were glued to their television sets last week to watch the daily swimming matches in Beijing. Michael did not disappoint. He excelled in the individual events and worked well with his teammates in the relay meets. I was certainly up late every night, yelling myself hoarse at the TV.

Now Michael Phelps, all of 23 years old, comes home a hero. More than that, he's a role model for millions of young people around the globe who look up to him. But he's no saint and he knows it, having had a brush with the law for a driving incident after the 2004 Olympics. He has since apologized and grown from the experience. Michael knows he represents America to the world and strives to live up to that.

All of us who call ourselves Christian are role models, whether we realize it or not. Through the waters of our baptism, we are called to be the face of Christ and the compassion of Christ to a world that is starving for love. We do this in great and small ways, ranging anywhere between the pope's high-profile ministry of evangelization during his papal visits to the gentle patience and understanding that we might bring to a tense situation at home or school or work.

We're not saints, but we strive to be, and we seek forgiveness for our failings through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

We can never stop being Christians, anymore than Michael Phelps can stop being an Olympic champion. Let us take as our inspiration Jesus' words at his Sermon on the Mount:

You are the light of the world. . . Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
- Matthew 5:14; 16

Or, as Jesse Manibusan likes to sing: "We are the light, light of the world, shining for the world to see!"