In the beginning, God created heaven

and earth. Now the earth was a formless

void. There was darkness over the deep,
and God’s spirit hovered over the water.
Then God said, “Let there be Light!”
And there was Light. God saw that the
Light was good and God delivered light
from darkness.
 When Jesus spoke to the people again, he
said, “I am the Light of the World. Anyone
who follows me will not be walking in the
dark. He will have the light of Life.”

“As long as the days lasts, I must carry out the

work of the One Who sent me. The Night will
soon be here when no one can work. As Long
as I am in the World, I am the Light of The
World.”
 “I, The light, have come into the world, so
that whoever believes in me need not stay in
the dark anymore.”

“The light will be with you only a little longer

now. Walk while you have the light, or the
darkness will overtake you. He who walks in
the dark does not know where he is going.
While you still have the light, believe in this
light, and you will become sons of the Light.”
 “You are the Light of the World. A City
built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. No
one lights a lamp to put it under a basket.
Instead, they put it in a lamp stand where
it shines for everyone in the house to see.
In the same way, your light must shine in
the sight of men, so that, seeing your good
works, they may give praise to your
Father in Heaven.”
Before time, there was darkness. Then
God created light, and the darkness
faded. Yet the world was still prone to
darkness half of the time. A Dark
World is a cold world. A dark world is
a lonely world. A Dark world is a
fear-filled world. A Dark world is an
anxious world.
But in time, there was light in darkness.
First, by creation and then by the
incarnation of the Light of the World.
Darkness could never be the same again.
It could only rule half of the time, and
could never succeed in the end. The
darkness of the stormy night was
countered by the music of eternal light
and beauty.
 Peace, Beauty, softness, love, joy,
simplicity. These are the qualities of light
against the darkness. These are the
qualities of the Light of the World.

Enriched by Christ, our personalities are

light in the darkness of the world. Look
around you.
You see the Darkness all around you. But
you are also deeply aware of the small
flickering flames of light. Of hope. of
warmth. of security. The light which is
you and which you bear does things in the
darkness about you. It gives you a sense
of security, and for someone looking in
from the darkness, it gives him a sense of
warmth.
 When we sin, we bring on the
darkness. We turn ourselves off. We
blow ourselves out. We refuse to light
the world through our community in
Christ. We lose our own sense of
security. And the onlooker is left in the
hopeless, cold, darkness of a world
without the warmth of Christ.
 Now pause for a moment and
think. Have you ever turned
yourself off to someone? Have
you ever blown your light out?
Have you ever refused to light the
darkness of someone else’s
loneliness, someone’s anxiety,
someone’s need?
 Sense the depth of what it means when we
turn ourselves off to others and to Christ.
When you are convinced that sometime in
your life, you have blown out the light that
Christ gave you, then wear your blindfold. I
repeat - when you are convinced that
sometime in your life, you have blown out
the light that Christ gave you, then wear your
blindfold. Anyone may begin.
 This is how it feels when we are away
from God’s love. This is what happens to
the world we live in when we sin. Have
we ever thought of what God feels when
he sees us in this kind of situation? How
does a shepherd feel when his sheep goes
astray? How do you feel when someone
very close to you drifts away from you?
God really feels a lot of pain when he sees
us sin, more than we do. But God’s love
is nevertheless present. His love prevails
despite all the evil that exists. Look at the
darkness. It has been lit by one single
flame. It has been illuminated by the light
of the world – by Christ, by a flame of
security and warmth that will never be
extinguished.
Can you bring yourself to share
in this light? Can you attempt
to take this light to yourself and
to others? The World needs his
light, and he needs you to bear
it for him. Can You? Will you?
 When you feel that you can, that
you want to, then remove your
blindfold and raise your hand in
the zoom call. But before you
raise your hand, there is a price
that you must pay. Say a short
silent prayer before you raise your
hand.
 At this point, we will be asking the
circle to choose two leaders among
you. They will be the
representatives for the group. More
than this, we will be primarily
responsible for the Circle. In
Search-In, we call them the
Godfather and Godmother.
Theirs will be a position not of power and
prestige, but of service and humility. The
Godparents will be the shepherds of the
Circle. They will see to it that everyone in
the Circle is taken care of. They will also
be the guardians of the light that was lit by
the circle a few moments ago. They will
also try to make sure that the commitment
of every member is supported and
strengthened.
But this is not the work of
the Godfather and
Godmother alone. It is the
responsibility of everyone
in the circle to take care of
one another.
 ________________, you have been chosen by
your sisters and brothers in Circle ___ as their
Godfather/Godmother. As
Godfather/Godmother, you will have the
responsibility of standing in their behalf in all
Search-In affairs, and for ensuring that the light
that they have lit this special morning will
never be extinguished. Do you, __________,
accept the responsibility for being the custodian
and guardian of the Light for your Circle?
 Please bow down your heads. In the
exercise of your responsibility as
Godfather and Godmother, we of the
Search-In family pray that you may be
guided by the wisdom of the Holy
Spirit, inspired by the Love of Christ
the Son, and strengthened by the grace
of the Almighty Father.
 Dear sisters and brothers of Circle ____,
because you have chosen _______ and
_______ as your Godparents, the Search-In
family reminds you that you have the
responsibility of offering them your utmost
support in the performance of their functions,
to ensure that the light of your circle
continues to shine for your benefit and of
those of your Search-In brothers, your family,
friends and with all you come in contact.
 This is only the beginning. The tests of
your brotherhood and of your
commitments to a renewed life are still to
come. And so therefore, you now also
have the responsibility of caring and
supporting one another in your constant
effort to live a renewed and more vigorous
Christian life. Do you sisters and brothers
of Circle ____ accept these
responsibilities?
Sometime near the end of World
War II, when the allied forces
drove the Germans out of France,
some allied soldiers came upon
the ruins of a church which had
been destroyed during the war.
Upon going through the ruins, they found
a figure of the Crucified Christ, but both
its arms had been broken off. The
soldiers then asked the Parish Priest:
“Father, what should we do with this
figure of Christ with no arms? Should we
build new arms for it, or should we just
throw it away and replace it with a new
one?”
 The priest answered: “My sons, do
not do anything to the figure. Just
leave it as it is. From now on, let
this figure remind you that you will
be the arms of Christ. Because it is
through people that Christ can be
present in this world.
 My sisters and brothers, this very same
challenge is posed to you at this time. The
challenge that Jesus gives us today is the
challenge of making him visible to a world
that truly needs him but does not always
welcome him. The real success of this retreat
depends on how we will live out the
Challenge to be the Body of Christ in our
families and among our friends in school, and
in whatever professions we finally choose.
 We will now be passing around the Arms of
Christ. Within you retreatants, 2 of you will be
spotlighted at a time. While in the spotlight we
would like you to say a short silent prayer,
asking God to give you the grace to be truly
Christ’s arms in this World. After you have said
your prayer, raise your lit candle to signify that
you are done with your prayer. For those who
are not in the spotlight, may we request you to
pray for the 2 people who are in the spotlight.