God’s providence often suffers the wicked to go on a long time in their sins: but punisheth them in another life.
The lives of sinners resemble darkness and the lives of the saints, the light of Christ.
“They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his ways, neither have they returned by his paths.“ (Job 24:13)
In the Creed, we call Jesus Light of Light (lumen de lumine). Light is intrinsically bound with knowledge.
“The brightness of the soul is knowledge, and conversely the darkness of the soul is ignorance.” -St. Bonaventure
“He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the vineyards.” (Job 24:18)
“And so it is well said, ‘If the morning suddenly appears, it is to them even as the shadow of death.’ For ‘the morning’ is the mind of the righteous, which, leaving behind the darkness of sin, now breaks out into the light of eternity. As it is also said of the holy church, ‘Who is she that looks forth as the morning?’ Therefore, in the same measure that every righteous person shining with the light of righteousness in this present life is reared to a height with honors, so the same measure of the darkness of death comes before the eyes of the wicked, in that they who remember that they have done bad things are in fear of being corrected. They always desire to be free in their iniquities, to live free from correction and to delight from sin. Its fatal mirth is itself appropriately described in the words that are directly introduced: ‘And they walk so in darkness, as in the light.’ For with an evil mind they delight in deeds of wickedness. Through their sin they are day by day being dragged to punishment and are full of assurance. Hence it is said by Solomon that ‘there are wicked people who are as secure as if they had done the deeds of righteous.’ Concerning them it is written that they ‘rejoice to do evil and delight in the most wicked doings.’ Thus ‘they walk in darkness as in the light,’ in that they delight in the night of sin as if the light of righteousness were spread around them.…
‘He is light on the face of the water.’ From the plural number he returns to the singular, because most frequently one person begins what is bad, and numbers follow after by imitating him, but the fault is primarily his, whom the bad people follow after being furnished examples of wickedness; and hence the sentence frequently returns to him who was the leader in sin. Now the surface of water is carried here and there by the breath of air. Not being steadied with any stability it is put in motion everywhere. And so the mind of the wicked is ‘lighter than the surface of water,’ in that every breath of temptation that touches it, draws it in without any retarding resistance. For if we imagine the unstable heart of any bad person, what do we discover but a surface of water set in the wind?” -St. Gregory The Dialogist
Discussion: How are we careful to walk in the light of the Lord and avoid the darkness of wickedness?
Women's Prayer Group In Christ 